Greetings again my Brethren. Let us continue to look at the critical need
in our walk with the Lord for obedience to God.
When God speaks to us He is listening for two words. He is not listening for our grumbling and
complaining, oh no my friend God is listening for us to say two words, (the
first time He speaks) “yes Lord.”
Nothing else will do. Nothing
else will bring to us the reward He has in store for us out from our obedience
to His words. If we do not respond to
Him as He desires it is because of our self-nature has not been dealt with by
Him. Make no mistake it is our self-nature
that prevents us from not moving in obedience to God. We like blaming everyone
and their cousins, but in reality it is our own self-nature, it is our own lust
that is at fault. James is very clear on
this topic, “But every man
is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” (James 1:14) This lust is what
draws us away from God and anything that draws us away from God is disobedience.
Anything that is not of obedience is disobedient. It is our lust, our selfish nature that keeps
us from being obedience to God. This nature
too must be pulled down and place in the obedience of Christ, “Casting down imaginations, and every high
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into
captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 6And having in a readiness to
revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.” (2 Corinthians 10:5-6) Now when the Bible says “every high thing” it means every high thing. Everything must be brought “into captivity every thought to the
obedience of Christ.” The word “thought” here is translated plans. Every plan of ours (even the ones in God) must
be brought into the obedience of Christ. “And
have a readiness to revenge all disobedience when” not if, but “when your obedience is fulfilled.” For
us to have ability within us to “revenge
all disobedience” our self-nature
must be dealt with.
Yes
the self-nature of our soul must be conquered.
Our direction, our judgement, our disposition to rebel must be subjected
and reduced to ashes. How can God use us
if we cannot be obedient to Him? It is
in the fire of obedience, for it is there that you will find out if you are
truly a follower of divine love or self love.
There must come a holocaust of our own values and judgements and will. Michael
Molino once said, It would be better that we gather dung by obedience than to
be caught up into the third heaven by our own will. But what is true obedience? Obedience, to be perfect must be voluntary;
it must be pure and cheerful. But most of all it must be internal. I would add that it must also be blind and persevering. Volunteer to obey without fear and never
engage in obedience if there is fear. Obedience that is pure has no personal
interest or thoughts (plans) of gain for oneself. Pure obedience is solely for the gain of
God. Obedience is ready at all times,
with no excuses and no delay. It is
cheerful, with out inward resentment, and internal, because it must not be
external. Obedience must proceed from the heart, blind because it must put
aside a judgemental nature and private judgement.
In these last two issues I have tried to touch the
importance of obedience. I feel I have
fallen short, and would like say I am not totally what I have written. I try to be, but in the end like Paul I do
the things I do not want to do and do not the things God wants me to do. Obedience is an on going life lesson of God
were we learn by our failures. The Lord
by means of our failures, lets us know that it is His majesty which frees us
from great faults. These are the ways He
keeps us humble and vigilant. And if we
fall 1000 times we must make use of this remedy: a loving confidence in God’s divine mercy.
These are the weapons of our warfare with which we must fight and conquer our
disobedience to God. Let us learn to be
obedient to God and His leaders.
Next month I would like to start on the topic of brokenness
and other related topics. Obedience and brokenness go hand-in-hand. Watchman Nee said, “the broken alone are
useful to God.” I read this and hear it,
but when it is put into practice in my life often I draw back.
ARTICLE REVIEW:
The Greatest is Truth
Paul shares these words with us from what many call
the love chapter of the Bible, “And now
abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” (1 Corinthians 13:13) I am not sure about you, but I consider the
entire Bible and not just one chapter to be about God’s love to man. Paul names three critical elements needed in
our lives to walk with the Lord and to come to the end God has purposed for
us. Paul lists: “faith, hope, charity” or love as we use the word today. Now please
do not misunderstand me I know love is critical in our lives, oh how I need
more love in my life, but Paul said, “these
three; but the greatest of these is charity.” Paul did not say charity (love) was the
greatest, Paul said, of these three charity (love) is the greatest. Please do not think I am saying love is not
important in our lives, oh my friend it is critical. As a matter of fact the more love we have the
more the faith God speaks to us will operate, because “ . . . faith which worketh by love.”
(Galatians 5:6) and hope the middle element is our anchor in God,
until we receive the promise of the Father. Without faith and love operating in
our lives we will have no need to hope in those precious promises of God. Yes all three are critical in our lives, but
there is something else more critical needed in our lives if we are going to
come into what God has for us and that my friend is truth. When we look at God’s love the truth of God’s
love towards us is dependent on our love toward God. It is true God loved us
before we love Him, “We love him, because
he first loved us.” (1 John
Jesus in the book of John shares critical insight into
this essential element called truth “Then said Jesus
to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32And
ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32) Here Jesus brings into the spiritual realm the concept of “disciples indeed” being linked to
continuing in His word. Now please
understand Jesus was not talking about the Bible for it has not been written
yet. Jesus was talking about such words
as, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3) and all of the other
wonderful kingdom attitudes (Beatitudes) He spoke. Then in verse 32, Jesus makes the connection;
being a disciple has to do with knowing the truth and if you know the truth it
(the truth) will make you free. Being a
disciple happens when we continue in the things He has spoken to us, in the
things we know that are right to do and say.
For example, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if
ye have love one to another.” (John
13:35) It is right to have love for
all men, not just Christians, and when we continue in this truth to, “have love one to another,” we will be
His disciples not only in word, but indeed.
Continuing in His word brings us to the truth. The issue is not how much love, humility, and
humbleness we have, but how much truth have we learned through God’s dealings
and judgments in our lives? Many people say they are suffering for God, well
suffering to suffer does nothing unless we learn the lessons God desires to
teach us through the suffering. Make no mistake servant hood is linked with
suffering, this was true in Jesus’ life and is the servant greater then the
Master? And please notice, “and the truth shall make you free.” Truth is the hammer that beats our thoughts,
intentions, and motives into submission. There is a process of God we call
holiness whereby God’s truth is worked into our lives and we are made free from
this world and its trappings. We then have the ability in God to move and
function with Him as He has purposed for our lives. How can we move with God if we have not been
made free? If we are bound in areas in
our lives that are not truthful, how can we flow with the Spirit of God? Truth is the measuring stick God uses to measure
our spiritual growth and maturity. How we handle truth (and not how long we can
speak in tongues, pray, or even how much money we give to the church) is the
mark of spiritual maturity in our lives. Do we tell the truth? Can we recognize
the truth when we hear it? The last time we were not truthful, but now
confronted with the same problem we tell the truth and grow beyond that place
of untruthfulness, that place of weakness and loss in God. As we can see freedom in God comes from
knowing the truth and then allowing the truth to make us free. My friend this
thought is liberating, freedom in God comes from knowing the truth. You know
there is something about truth, we know it when we hear it. It kicks us in the stomach and brings us to
our knees before God. Of course the
greatest truth we can ever learn is how much we need God in our lives. We must see the truth for the need of God’s
power and ability in our lives if God is going to be able to effect a change in
our thinking and heart. We must be able
to see the truth of who we are without God in our lives. We must see the truth of the damage sin has
worked in our lives and in every relationship we enter in. My friend for some
Christians the truth is a very painful awareness in their lives, but we must
allow God to work in us so that we will be able to know the truth, so the truth
will be able to make us free of our self-seeking, self-centeredness, and
selfish ways. The word “truth” has 235 occurrences in the KJV
of the Bible, appears in 222 verses and yet we seem to have a great avoidance
to it. I think if the Holy Spirit would
have included “truth” in 1
Corinthians 13:13, it would have read and the greatest of these is truth.
Faith, hope, and charity are wonderful and oh so needed in our lives, but
without truth in operation they are sounding bass or a tinkling cymbal. Brethren let us allow truth to operate in our
lives, let us continue in His word, let us come to the truth, and let us allow
God’s truth to make us free from all of those things that would keep us from
coming into what God has purposed and planned for our lives. Written by David Stahl
THOUGHTS FROM KAREN:
Where is the Money?
When Dave is
gone on a ministry trip he expects me to keep things operating smoothly at home
and with anything that comes up with Beholding His glory. Sometimes I do and then again . . . well that may be thoughts for another
article. While he was in Turkey India Nigeria Western Union
manager had called to see if it went through and mentioned that it has been
picked up already in Nigeria Nigeria Nigeria Western Union is investigating and we feel we will get
the money back) I dreaded emailing Dave
saying we lost another $2,000. So I went
up stairs to our room knowing I needed something from the Lord. Now please understand I am not saying you
will always hear from God when you read your daily devotional. God may speak to you in it, He may not. God is God and can do whatever He wants to
do. For God to be able to speak to us we must be in the place of hearing and
receiving His words no matter what source He uses. So I opened my daily
devotional to the correct date and read about spiritual tenacity – endurance
combined with the absolute certainly that what we are looking for is going to
transpire. Great, good news I read further.
Now I am trying not to freak out and thought what is the scripture for
the day. I had skipped it in order to
read the underlying text. Well shut my
mouth and steady my jangled nerves it was, “Be
still and know that I am God I will be exalted among the nations, I will be
exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10) What a wonderful truth from God, “Be still and know.” Being still, both
externally and internally, is the condition for us to know God and His
ways. But we are so busy in our
day-to-day lives we cannot be still. The
word “still” here means to cease from
all of our labor and to be quieted from our internal spiritual strife. It is in the inward man God desires to bring
us to stillness. Sadly most Christians
cannot be still long enough to pray or spend five minutes of quiet time with
Him. When do we think God will speak to
us? How will God be able to get our
attention if we cannot slow down to hear His voice? We have this destructive head long drive
toward the latest technology and to be constantly busy always doing something,
even things for God. We cannot sit in the stillness of the moment in a car
without turning on the radio, taking, or even singing a song. God is not so
concerned about our working for Him, but is more concerned about becoming like
Him. The more we can “be still and know” that He is God we
will be like Him. The more God can bring us to stillness in our spirit the more
we will be able to know. God desires to still or silence our words, our
desires, and our thoughts. In the first, silence of our words there is a virtue
(strength) that is acquired. In the
second, the silence of our desires a quietness is obtained. And in the third,
the silence of our thoughts (this is God’s goal) the internal recollection of
all of our senses. To lay hold of the silence of thought is to arrive and abide
at the center of our being where Christ dwells.
The first is perfect. The second
is even more perfect and the third is the most perfect. Wow! I left off
fretting about the Western Union money and hit my prayer
journal. After a while the phone rang
and our special friend and contact in Nigeria
POETRY CORNER:
True Expression
By Charles Haun
Oh, my God, that today it be
allowed
That my heart would give Thee
true expression
In thought and voice and
action loud,
May find their own recession.
DEAR FRIENDS:
God continues to remind me we gain in
Him by what we lose, not by what we can add to our selves. Our concept of this process in our lives is
so strange to us. We gain in Him by how
much of the world we lose in our lives. The
longer we go with God the more and more we are to look like His dear sweet Son
Jesus Christ, by doing so we are becoming like Him. The more and more we become like His Son, the
more and more He will see Himself in us.
What a glory for God to behold, seeing His character and nature in us,
His children. This is God intention for
our lives to be changed to be transformed into His own image. In the
When God said, we have been set apart
unto Him He really meant it. God expects
us to separate our selves from the world.
Did you know, the longer we go with God the less of the world we are
to have? I see many Christians going
after things of the world, more and newer cars, houses, clothing, jewellery the
latest ipod gadget or computer. We do
not want to go the worldly vacation spots and all of the luxuries of life. Our
loss of the world’s things and ways must
extend into out thinking, motives, and yes even our life-style. Many Christians
refuse to believe this, they say God wants me to have nice things not
true. God wants us to have the things He
gives us. Not everything we get is from
God and good for us. We can either go after God or things of the world we
cannot have both. The more we go after
technology, even for ministry the less of the Spirit of God will be in us. Our losing of the world to gain in God even
extends into our friendships. Strangely,
the longer we go with God the less friends we will have, because He will
replace all others and be a friend that sticks closer then a brother. Karen asked me one day why we do not have a
lot of friends. I told her we do not
have a lot in common with most people and it is commonness that often joins
people together. Our wants and needs are
much different. Now please we must be
very careful in this area, for the opposite of holiness is not sin, but
commonness. If those around us do not
love God and desire to fulfil His will and plan for their lives then we will
not have much in common. We may even go
to church with them. It is the desires
and motives ushering forth from the springs of our heart that God uses to join
us (Karen and I) together and to others who are like minded.
NEEDS NOT WANTS:
1. In
Silistra,
2. In
3. In
4. Pastor
Joseph Mutua in
5. Pastor
Mike Olufemi in the north of
6. Pastor
S. J. Peter, Founder of DAWN Ministries and Pastor Wilson and his son Pastor
Julian both near
7. Financial
support for the printing of: “Adventures with God.”
8. Pastor Metin Mintaz and the members of
Uskudar Son Buyruk Kilisesi in
9. Pastor
Elieti Msangi in Dar Es Salaam and Pastor Isreal Mutaitina in
10. Major Rob McIntosh, Chaplin,
11. Vivian’s Maternity and Child Care Clinic
project in
12. Pastor
Tek Dahl, the $4,700 needed for radio equipment, and his Church in
FUTURE SCHEDULE:
May:
June: Local Ministry
July:
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
Jacksonville , NC 28546
Phone:
Home: (910) 346-1739
FAX: (910) 346-1739
Email:
dstahl@ec.rr.com
Website:
I am
pleased to announce “God Still Performs Miracles: A Book of Personal Encouragement” is now
available and
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
