THOUGHTS FOR CONSIDERATION:
Greetings again my Brethren.
The more we behold God’s glory the more
we see our need for Him and His ways. As
we saw the last few months, one way was a great need for obedience and
brokenness. I received an email from a
Pastor friend in Rwanda this week whose words caused me to shake my head. Here is a man who has lived through genocide,
whose family was slaughtered, whose life daily is in peril and he says, “oh yes
my brother I need to be more humble, more broken so that I can be more
obedient.” Oh my God, have mercy on me
and give to my brother great peace, grant his prayer. The more we move with God and the more humble
we are the more we will be able to know Him.
Now this thought is important. Being able to know or see (understand)
God brings us to the next area we need to discuss, revelation. How the church clamours for revelation from
God. Christians run head long to great confusion
going to conference after conference; new vine, new fire Megafest, new
anointing you name it they are endless and all are useless, but still Christians run like sheep to the
slaughter trying to receive revelation from God. Revelation comes to us when we can silence our
spirit long enough to hear Him to speak to our spirit. For this to happen we must be still, our
inward thoughts must be stilled, and our spirit must be pointed to God in an
attitude of expectation. For this all to
happen we must come to a place where we know and learn to despise our self
nature. Without this deep insight (even this revelation) all attempts at
spirituality are invalid. The basis for
correct revelation begins with a correct experience with God. The goal is to still our outward senses so
that our inward senses be come dominate.
We see this truth with the struggle between our spirit and soul. The goal is to have our emotions deadened so
that our spirit can come alive and connect with God. We are to go after the inward and avoid the
outward, even in prayer and the correct foundational experience must be laid. In our journey with God we will have two
categories of spiritual experiences. The first is tender, delightful, and
loving focused on grace. Now there is
nothing wrong with this experience, but most Christians never grow in God and
come to a place of real revelation because they never transition into the
second spiritual experience. Their
entire time in God is immature focusing on themselves and what God can do for
them instead of focusing on what they can do for God. Be careful it does matter who you teacher
is. If the message is only love and
grace (which is a part of the total message) you will only be a babe, not able
to move into the second spiritual experience with God. Now the second can be quite obscure, dry
dark, and desolate some refer to it as a wilderness experience. Never forget God gives us the first to gain
us, He then gives us the second to purify us.
God gives us the first to allure us to the wilderness so that He can get
our attention and teach us to her His voice, “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her
into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.” (Hosea 2:14) So that He can speak to us, oh how we need His comfort. First God deals
with us as if were an only child. Then
He beings to deal with us as if we were a strong man. This is God’s intentions, but whether it
happens or not is up to us. In the first
there is a great deal of our Christian experience tied to that which we can
sense outwardly; singing, shouting, dancing, flag waving, on and on, all Christian entertainment. We
are attracted by these nice pleasant and outward experiences; in fact we get
addicted to them. We even call these
outward experiences worship. The church is obsessed with these things. Many
church leaderships go after this folly, because it gives their folks something
to work on instead of allowing God to work on them in the inward man. But the second category of Christian
experience calls for a Believer to no longer mind their outward senses. Rather they know warfare against their own
passions and attain to a will that is in complete agreement and concert with
the Lord. Dry spells and troubled times
are the instruments of God for our good.
Know this: In such times we are
either going to leave off prayer and perhaps even a large part of our Christian
walk or we will be driven to a comfort which has nothing to do with our outward
senses. Most often we leave off our Christian walk with Him. What are the fruits of a Believer who persists
in seeking God in a deeper way in such time? Should we survive such periods we will
learn humility, graciousness, and simplicity. We will learn the gift of perseverance which
has many fruits and advantages. We will develop a weariness towards the things
of this world little by little the desires of our past life will lose their
strengths, new ones toward God will arise. We will learn reflection and
concentration on things which we formerly had virtually no interest. When we come near to the verge of committing
some evil we will have a sense of warning deep within us. Our attachment for this world, both
religiously (our outward addictions of our emotions and senses) and
materialistically. There will gradually
grow in us a willingness perhaps even a sense within us that we are now willing
to suffer loss to do the will of God. We
will have a sense of peace within us, a confidence in God’s sovereignty and
even a detachment from all other things.
Yes my friend some very valuable fruits indeed. And now with the correct
foundation laid and ever being shored up we are able to receive revelation,
enlightenment from God. How can we hold
His revelation if we have not developed a place to hold it? More next month on receiving God’s revelation.
ARTICLE REVIEW:
Receiving Faith
One of God’s most amazing
works in our lives is faith. Now I will
be honest, God ever takes me to new places to be able to show me the many
mysterious facets of His faith. It is
important to understand faith is not ours it is a work of God in us of the
Spirit of God. We can not work it up by
listening to our favorite praise and worship song, pray it up, or even fast it
up. For us to operate, by the Spirit of
God in faith, we must be able to hear God speak to us. For it is in the hearing
and receiving what God speaks, is contained the faith needed to do whatsoever
God has asked us to do. When God speaks
to us He provides everything we need in His words to us. This is how, “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4 and Deuteronomy 8:3). Hearing the word
of God (preaching or teaching tapes) will not do it. Many people Sunday after
Sunday hear message after message and still have no faith. Paul shares these words with us, “So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
I believe the Greek version of this verse is more in keeping with what the
Spirit wants to teach us, “Faith cometh
by hearing a word from God.” (Romans 10:17 (Greek)) Do you see (understand) the
difference? When we hear and receive a
word from God we will have all of the faith we will ever need. Nothing no nothing will be impossible to us,
why? Because now we are moving not with
our fleshly strength and power, but now we are moving in the strength and power
of God almighty.
When God speaks there are
many elements moving in His word to us:
In faith; there is what faith is, “Now
faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not
seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) How faith
works, “ . . ., but faith worketh
through love.” (Galatians 5:6) Please understand this is not the type of
love we think of today; but it is a deeper, mature, and a complete type of
love. It is a love that requires a dedication divorced of all human
emotions. The word agape means
dedication. This type of love, a perfect
or mature love where, “There is no fear
in love; but perfect (mature, complete)
love (dedication) casts out fear,
because fear involves torment , but he who fears has not been made perfect (mature) in love.”
(1 John 4:18) Unless our love has been made “perfect” through God’s dealings and judgments in lives we will
fear. The fear we will experience will
be the loss to our self-life and us not getting our way. We will be tormented by not being able to
come into a rest God has for us. But,
when we allow God to conform us into His
dear Son’s (Jesus Christ) image He can bring us into a place of no fear,
nothing will be impossible, we will be at rest.
Let us allow God to work in our lives so that we may be able to possess
a mature and perfected dedication for Him and the Brethren to a point where we
just get lost in His love. Also moving
in God’s word to us is the key to how faith operates, “Did I not say to you if thou wouldest believe thou shall see the glory
of God.” (John 11:40) God had to take me to India to teach me this wonderful
lesson. Contained in this one verse is three separate truths, but combined they
give us an understanding and knowledge to move correctly in faith. “Did I not say to you” (HEARING) God
must speak and we must hear it or it will not happen. I do not care how long you claim something or
want it to happen, God must speak it and we must take it into our spirit. Always know God is speaking, when He has
something to say, but it is our hearing where the breakdown in communication
occurs. Let us draw near to Him so we will be able to hear His voice. “If thou wouldest believe” (BELEIVING)
When we hear God speak now we have something to hold on to, even if we cannot
see it or it makes no sense. Here is the
mystery part. But I like this part, for it is the unknown mystical realm that
keeps faith in the simplistic and practical application in our life. It is a basic thought of just believing what
God said. No need for hyper-spirituality
but, just hear God’s word long enough to plant a mustard seed measure of faith
in our spirit. “Thou shall see the glory of God” (RECEIVING) What shall we receive?
All of God’s precious promises? Oh no my
friend, only what God has spoken. God
speaks it, we hear it, we believe it, and then we shall receive it, “the glory of God.” Brethren let us not get God’s order wrong if
we do we will never receive anything from God we will get frustrated and be
moved out of God.
In 1 Kings 17:11-16 we see
faith’s character. Always remember our
real character like our testimony is what people see of us and what we speak.
“And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring
me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. 12And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have
not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse:
and, behold, I am gathering two
sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it,
and die. 13And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me
thereof a little cake first, and bring it
unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. 14For thus saith
the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the
cruse of oil fail, until the day that
the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. 15And
she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her
house, did eat many days. 16And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil
fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.” (1 Kings 17:11-16) Here in these
verses is contained the character of what our faith MUST be to be able to
operate with a holy and sovereign God. First and foremost our faith MUST be
obedient. (verse 15) It is the obedient alone that are honoring to God. If God cannot teach us to be obedient, to Him
and man, then He cannot use us. We
disqualify ourselves for service. God
must be able to work obedience in us.
Please note I said God and man.
Many Christians think they must obey God, but treat God’s man and His
children any old way, well my friend this is wrong thinking that will move you
quickly out of God and if we are not careful it will lead us to death. Next our faith must always give away. (verse
13) Giving is at the heart of the Gospel, “for
God so loved (dedicated) the world He
gave . . . ” (John 3:16) Like our
obedience, if God cannot teach us to be a giver He cannot use us. We disqualify ourselves for service. Now I am not a prosperity teacher, however, I
have learned it is easy to give our heart to the Lord, but once He gets a hold
of our wallet He has all of us. God must
be able to teach us to open our hand and give if not He will not be able to
bless us. Our receiving from God is directly proportionate to our giving. This
is why it is more blessed to give them receive (Acts 20:35). Next our
faith always sacrifices something. (verse 12) Sacrifice always calleth for
God’s help in time of need. Today many
in the Church seem to want to avoid
persecution and not endure sacrifice, well this is not God’s way. “Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto
me at Antioch, at Iconium,
at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. 12Yea, and all that
will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:11-12) Maybe this is
why many in the Church do not “live godly
in Christ Jesus.” Always remember, to sacrifice just to sacrifice will do
nothing for you, but if we sacrifice and learn the lesson God desires to teach
us, through our sacrifice, we will not sacrifice in vain. It is best to give God the sacrifice He is
looking for and remember God gets to pick the sacrifice, “The sacrifices of God are
a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not
despise.” (Psalm 51:17) This too is why the broken alone are useful to
God. And lastly faith always operates in
the supernatural. (verse 16) This operating in the supernatural while simply
believing keeps the application of faith in the simplistic and practical realm.
Do not expect God to operate in the natural. He has given us a good mind to do
this, but we must expect God to operate in the supernatural where only He can
make changes on our behalf and others.
God does not give us His supernatural power and ability to see who can
get the most, but God gives us His supernatural power and ability to do
supernatural things for Him and when we receive faith it opens the door to the
supernatural. Written by David Stahl
THOUGHTS FROM KAREN:
You’re
Wrong
One of the hardest things for me to know is that I’m
wrong in this area or another. Quite honestly it hurts my pride and most times
I end up feeling stupid, very stupid.
But this is a good thing, because I know God is working in my life and
showing me those horrible areas that need correcting so that I can come into
those precious promises He has waiting for me.
If our thoughts and ideas about Him are wrong He will have to correct
us, if we let Him. Our foundational knowledge of God must be correct if
we are to go on with Him. Most churches of the major denominations and
certainly a lot of the smaller off-shoots are wrong in one area or another. Our
responsibility is to move with Him as correctly as possible. If your church is
really wrong in its doctrine God will reveal it to you (if you desire the truth
and let Him) and you may have to move on. If you want to stay where you are
most times God will allow your decision, but your spiritual growth and
development will be stunted at that level.
It’s okay to be shocked when you read your Bible and have the revelation
of truth hit you that you’ve been wrong in an area for years. It really is
okay, if you learn from it and move on.
Failure even in God is okay as long as you learn from your mistakes and
do not repeat them again and again. There is to be a “learning and ever
learning” process in our spiritual development.
If not we will be “learning, but never learning,” never coming to the
saving knowledge and understanding of what God desires to tell us. You won’t be
the first person to say oops---I blew it in this area. Keep in mind that God
loves you very much, enough to make you feel uncomfortable so that you may get
right with Him. Repent and press further into Him.
Dave and I were arguing once and I was criticizing him
over something. We went round and round until he said, “I didn’t have the right
to criticize him.” Well . . . it hit me like a ton of bricks that he was right.
It was quite an epiphany, I was shocked. Instantly, I knew I was very wrong.
All of this mess could’ve been avoided, had I read my Bible more and been more
soft-hearted towards God and Dave. Boy did I feel dumb and ashamed. This was
just one of many times that the Lord revealed wrong thinking in my life. Let us allow God to show us these areas that
are wrong in our lives, so that we might move into a right relationship with
Him and others. And always remember, the
best is yet to come. Written by Karen Stahl
POETRY CORNER:
CHRIST, MY HIGH TOWER
By John Wright Follette
O Christ, Thou Mighty Son of God,
Thou art my great, high tower,
In which I hide from every foe,
And thus escape thy their power.
In majesty thy rugged walls
Rise high in might secure
For every stone is fitly joined,
And Christ, the Rock, is sure.
Thy bulwarks bold, have stood the test
Of conflicts fierce and long,
Unmoved by any power or might
Through all the ages gone.
Twas in Thy shelter, mighty tower,
Our forefathers would flee,
Where strength divine Thou didst afford,
And give them victory.
Sure Thou my soul wilt keep,
As in Thy inner cell
In quiet confidence I hide
From all attacks of hell.
I rest my soul in Thee, my tower,
My stronghold, evermore;
My feeble strength I yield to Thee,
My fighting days are o’er.
For Thou, the mighty Captain,
Will undertake for me,
And in Thy strength all glorious
Give me the victory.
DEAR FRIENDS:
Time is fleeting. It is hard to believe June and July has come
and gone so fast. I was really looking
forward to June because Daniel, Sarah, and Abigail were coming home. I really liked my son’s words from his final
email; “Well it has been three years
since I arrived here in Germany for the second time, this will put my total time
living in Germany at seven years. I came here a boy with my
parents back in 1996, left for the USAF in 2000 to come back here again in
2003. I am leaving a young man with the Lord leading as we head to
Tyndall AFB, FL. We are confident that the Lord is leading us were He
wants and look to this great adventure before us knowing He has "an expected
end" for us, our own "course to run." What powerful words, “We are confident that
the Lord is leading us.” One can only be confident if they have allowed God to
lead them spiritually from one place to the next. How proud I am of Dan and Sarah, they have
grown so in God. So now BHG does not
have a European Office, the job is open any takers?
But what
really caught my thoughts was the fleetingness of time. I often think of Charles Haun’s (my teacher) Bible,
his suitcases were given to Jake Luffy, but I thought, where are the other
things of great interest to me? It is
amazing to know things we use to minister usually will out live us. Charles’ computers he used to put together
such deep thoughts are being used by someone else. I thought time, how we need to maximum our
time. One day my Bible will be left and
I will be gone off the face of the earth.
How important it is to take advantage of every opportunity to the
fullest. How important it is to exploit
every moment of time when ministering.
Often we can get routine in our approach to sharing the Gospel, maybe
teach an old message or not prepare for the service by waiting on the Lord to
hear from Him. My friend we all have an
allotted amount of time to be used of God and after this time is will be over.
I feel I still have another 30 good years left of ministry, but God may have
other plans. Let us be ready to serve
and do the things God would have us do.
Let us not get stale in areas, but allow the Holy Spirit to be fresh as
He ministers through us.
It is
interesting Daniel spent seven years in Germany as Karen, the family, and I also. Seven is the number of a completed work of
God, how wonderful to know God has completed things in us as He said He
would. But, also how wonderful to know
God continues to have things for us to do.
As we stay fresh and open God’s will can be done in our lives. Time waits for no person, it is owned by God
the only thing we can handle of time is how we use it to ours and God’s
advantage.
NEEDS NOT WANTS:
1. In Silistra, Bulgaria Pastor Yanko, Pastor Niki, and their church. Pastor Niki is enhancing their print shop and
needs $12,000 to upgrade their ability to print Bible and books, a most critical
need in Eastern Europe.
2. In Constanta, Romania Pastor Ritisan, the Lighthouse Church, and their Mission Bible School.
3. In Suceava, Romania Pastors Nicu and Marcel at St. Andrews Church, and their Bible School, Christ for Romania. Romania is undergoing new religious persecution from their
government.
4. Pastor
Joseph Mutua in Nairobi, Kenya
needs your prayer and financial support.
The famine and drought in East Africa is killing
1000s.
5. Pastor
Mike Olufemi in the north of Nigeria. He needs your
prayers and support to be a light in great darkness.
6. Pastor
S. J. Peter, Founder of DAWN Ministries and Pastor Wilson and his son Pastor Julian
both near Hyderabad, India.
7. Financial
support for the printing of: “Adventures with God.”
8. Pastor Metin Mintaz and the members of
Uskudar Son Buyruk Kilisesi in Istanbul, Turkey.
9. Pastor
Elieti Msangi in Dar Es Salaam and Pastor Isreal Mutaitina in Bukoba, Tanzania.
10. Major Rob McIntosh, Chaplin, Gatwick Airport, Salvation Army, London, England.
11. Vivian’s Maternity and Child Care Clinic
project in Aviele, Nigeria.
12. Pastor
Tek Dahl, his Church, and the radio station project in Kathmandu, Nepal.
13. Pastor Sharief Ramsis, Khartoum Evangelical Church, (his Church) and
their feeding and lodging ministry of the 1000s of children from the famine and
war regions.
FUTURE SCHEDULE:
August: Local Ministry
September: Rwanda
and Congo
October: Local Ministry
I am still available to share what God has given me at
churches and/or home groups. If God
moves on your heart to bless the ministries I visit and share God’s love I
would be honored to make it possible for God and you. God told Abram, “I will bless those who bless
you and curse those who curse you.” (Genesis 12:3) If you want a blessing, then bless someone. Remember, God is to you what you are to God.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Address:
David and Karen
Stahl
141 Coke Place
Jacksonville, NC 28546
Phone:
Home: (910) 346-1739
Mobile: (910) 273-5712
FAX: (910) 346-1739
Email:
dstahl@ec.rr.com
Website:
www.beholdinghisglory.com
I am
pleased to announce “God Still Performs Miracles: A Book of Personal Encouragement” is now
available and FREE FOR THE ASKING. No cost for the
book, but I will ask for mailing cost.
If you
know someone you think would enjoy
receiving this newsletter or if you receive this newsletter and do not wish to
please let me know. Contributions to
this ministry is always appreciated and
needed the more time continues. Please feel free to contact me with the
above information. The cost is great, but the cost for not supporting to others
is even greater. And remember, all donations are tax deductible.
