Greetings again my
Brethren. As we behold His glory more
and more we will be able to come to a true understanding of our self and our
continual need to receive revelation from God.
The more revelation we receive from God the more we will be able to see
our “self” for what it really is. Revelation is therefore the evidence of God’s
authority in our lives. Revelation is
God’s evaluation and measuring stick because God’s authority is built on God’s
revelation. Brethren, when God gives
revelation His authority is established, thus it is critical for our spiritual
growth and development to be able to be enlightened or receive revelation. There is a great danger in the church today
that prevents many Christians from receiving revelation from God. Let us look at some verses. In Matthew 11, Jesus is speaking in parables,
since God cannot reveal Himself to the “wise and intelligent.” (Matthew 11:25) Such people, the “wise and intelligent,” cannot
expect revelation from God. They are not
only incapable of receiving revelation directly from God, but they too are
unable to receive revelation from the ministry of God’s word. The more people
consider themselves to be wise the harder for them to be enlightened. The
stronger we depend on ourselves the more tightly is God’s word closed to
us. Our approach to God must be with our
heart, not our mind or emotions, in a lowly and meek way. As soon as man possessed the knowledge of
good and evil, he was incapable of touching life as God planned it. Such a touch is then not only impossible to
man, but it is also forbidden by God. (Genesis 3:22-24) Whenever a person
focuses on knowledge life escapes them. Please
bear in mind at the time we boast of our own wisdom and understanding,
considering ourselves superior, the word of God is hidden from us. We perceive
not, we see or understand vaguely, even if we strongly desire it. This is God’s sealing of His word. Recall what Jesus prayed, “I praise thee,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the
wise and intelligent.” (Matthew 11:25) God does this purposely. Whenever people consider themselves wise and
prudent God hides Himself from them. But
if we come to the Lord as a child; simple, humbly, and tenderly the Lord will
just naturally be our wisdom and give revelation. As He becomes our wisdom our
problem for power is equally solved and for those who have Christ as wisdom,
then righteousness and redemption also become ours. As we behold His glory we receive revelation
and Christ becomes our wisdom. Spiritual
reality lies in the revelation of Christ. In touching revelation we touch
Christ. To the wise and understanding
God hides all things, but to the childlike He reveals Himself through
revelation.
In Romans we read, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not
and ears to hear not, down to this day.”
(Romans 11:8) In Matthew
ARTICLE REVIEW
Getting Us Over
King Solomon tells us, “Wisdom is the principal
thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” (Proverbs 4:7) You know all of our life is full of getting
things. Every day of our life we get up
and go about our daily business. Most go
to work to get money to buy things. We strive to get favor, fortune, and praise
from our friends. As a matter of fact
our entire life is filled with us getting things of which most are
temporal. But Solomon cuts right to the
chase, in all of our getting “get understanding.” We can get all things and even have everything,
but if we lack “understanding” in reality we will have nothing.
This need for “understanding” was something Jesus constantly impressed
on the Disciples, and is a major theme all through out the Bible. For us to become what God has purposed and
planned for our lives we too must come to a right “understanding” in
what God is doing in our lives. In 1
Peter we read, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to
try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13But rejoice,
inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall
be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” (1 Peter 4:12-13) I think it would be very difficult to “rejoice,
inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings;” if there was not a
right understanding to “his glory shall be revealed.” Why would one want
to suffer if they do not understand the reasons? For this “understanding” to be
made apart of our experience and wisdom, God must be able to so work, often
deeply, in our lives to degrees where He is able to move us on or get us over
certain things in our walk with Him. I
would like to discuss a few of what I believe are major things God MUST be able
to get us over so that we will be able to “But grow in grace, and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18)
The first and the greatest
obstacle in our lives from receiving God’s word is getting offended. God must be able to get us over past offenses
and getting offended. Getting offended is nothing more then our pride and self
seeking desires getting hurt. Did you know you cannot get offended if there is
no offense in you? We get offended when
other’s words and actions touch areas in our lives that we have not brought to
judgment. And if we get offended time
and time again, this is a sign we have refused to allow God to work in our
lives. King David, Solomon’s father
said, “Great
peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” (Psalm 119:165) I really believe this place of “Great
peace” is a place God desires to take us to, but He cannot if we continue
in getting offended time and time again. God must be
able to get us to a place, when others say and do things to us, where “nothing
shall offend” us. God must be able
to get us over being offended.
The second thing God must be
able to get us over is wrong thinking and false teaching. Both are the biggest enemy to God, because
they are closely linked together almost one in operation. It was the false teachers that posed the
greatest threat to the spreading of the Gospel, not Satan he was and still is
defeated. But now, false teachers have done great damage and will continue if
we do not take heed to our “understanding.” Peter warns us, “But there were false
prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among
you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that
bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2And many
shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be
evil spoken of.” (2 Peter 1:1-2) And today the Church is full of false
teachers spinning their “damnable heresies” bringing upon themselves and
others who follow them “swift destruction.” False teachers that teach a
man-centered and not a Christ-centered doctrine. They are easy to spot, their focus and
message always comes down to money and their technique is always the
manipulation of our emotions. God must
be able to get us over getting deceived by false teachers. I find it amazing God does not stop us from
following false teachers or change our wrong thinking processes in our
lives. Oh no, God expects us to know the
truth. God must be able to work an “understanding”
for the truth in our lives.
The third thing God must be
able to get us over, to be able to come to maturity and purpose for our lives,
are areas of defeat we have experienced.
Now listen, there is no defeat in God.
No where does God get defeated and so too in our lives if we are in God. However, in our walk with God we will
experience things in our lives, that are out of our control, that will affect
our spirit. We must allow God to so work
in our lives to where these things do not prevent His words and will coming to
pass in our lives. We are the ones who
prevent God’s intentions for our lives not coming to the end He has purposed. For example, a child that was raised in the
Church who is not walking with the Lord now. The parents must not allow this
situation of apparent defeat to get them over in areas of questioning or even
depression. We must allow God to work in
our hearts enough to be able to let the child go giving them over to God’s
grace. We must allow God to get us over
past defeats in our walk with the Lord.
Many Christians today live in past defeats, well this not God’s plan for
our lives. In God there is no defeat,
God must be able to move us on, get us over past defeat in our lives to where
we can see victory. God must be able to
bring us to a place in Him where we can see victory, where we can taste and
smell the victory of God time and time again.
The fourth and last thing
God must be able to get us over is sin and our salvation experience. Brethren
God must be able to work in our lives to where we really are convinced our sins
are forgiven. Most Christians today do not believe their sins are really
forgiven. They keep walking the aisle
every Sunday. Now we must never forget
the work Jesus did on the cross for us, but we must move on from the cross
(like Jesus did) unto spiritual growth and development. Our sin and our need for salvation is the
biggest subject in the Bible. Jesus
spent most of His time talking about sin.
And of course our salvation from the darkness of sin is man’s greatest
need, but God must be able to work in our lives to the point we are truly
convinced our sins are forgiven. Unless
God can work in our lives to be able to get us over our sin we will continue to
function in the Church with a sin mentality.
We will leave no rock unturned to look for sin. I am sinning, brother you are sinning, oh no,
we all are sinning. Well, this is wrong
thinking. Jesus died once for our sin
and we are to receive His precious work on the cross and get over sin. And as we move on from this preoccupation
with sin we will be able to rightly orientate our relationship with God and
man. We sing songs that put Jesus on the
cross and in the tomb, especially around Easter, but Jesus is not on the cross
nor is He in the tomb, He has risen from dead and is now (this very second) at
the right hand of the Father ever making intercession for us. It is Christ that died, yea
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also
maketh intercession for us.” (Romans
8:34) I wonder why we do not sing
songs about this? Our focus and attention will detail our spiritual growth and
if our heart focus is on the cross and the tomb we will stay there in our
spiritual development. Now please understand what I am saying we must never
forget the cross and the tomb, but we must get over we must move on from our
salvation experience, so that we can move on to the weightier things of
God. If God cannot work in our lives to
bring us to places in Him where we can move and operate in mercy, forgiveness,
judgment, and grace then God cannot use us the way He has intended for us to be
used. We will be like little children
needing our spiritual diapers changed making a big mess in every Church we go
to. God must be able to work “understanding,”
His understanding in us and get us over these and many more areas in our lives
to be useful to Him. Written by David Stahl
THOUGHTS FROM KAREN:
Read Any Good Books Lately?
Solomon shares in
Ecclesiastes this very profound truth with us,
“And further, by these my son, be admonished: of making many books
there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” (Ecclesiastes 12:12) I am sure any college student would strongly
agree with Solomon. Go to a library
there are row after row of books; new books, old books, books on every subject
known to man. Yes, there certainly is no
shortage of written words. But sadly the
one book that is most important to the Believer’s life is usually put away in a
corner collecting dust: the Bible, the
most amazing and most important book in the world. Oddly enough though it is still the number
one most published book, but sadly for most Christians it too is the least read
book. After all who wants to read the Bible when they can read the latest
Christian series on end-time prophecy?
Did you know that the Kings
of Isreal had to flawlessly write their own copy of the law that God gave
Moses, “And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom,
that he should write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is
before the priest the Levites. And it
shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he
may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these
statutes to do them.” (Deuteronomy 17:18-19) No wonder God desires to write His law of
love on our hearts so we will “learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all
the words of this law and these statutes to do them.” The Bible was written over a span of about
1,500 years, by over 40 authors, written originally in Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek,
on three continents; Asia Africa, and Europe, and inspired by God almighty
Himself, and communicated to man through His Holy Spirit, “All scripture is
given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine (teaching) for
reproof, for correction for instruction in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16) How wonderful, who among us does not need
correction now and then? How are we
supposed to be righteous if we do not know what it means? What is the proper Christian doctrine of the
Church? Many Christians are waiting for
the “rapture,” but in the King James Version of the Bible the word “rapture” is
no where to be found. Many years ago a
group of Christians sold their earthly possessions, gathered together in unity,
and waited on top of a mountain for Jesus to come and “rapture” them away. Now please do not misunderstand me here, I do
believe Jesus will come back to earth some day because the Bible says so not
because of a doctrine or belief. When
and how I do not know, all I know is the Bible says He will and that is good
enough for me. But if this group of
Christians would have studied the entire Bible and not relied on a few verses
that their leaders twisted, to form their denominational doctrines and beliefs,
they would not have looked like the pitiful and foolish bunch they were. How foolish they looked to both those who
knew the truth and to sinners in the world. This type of presumption and “err”
(to willfully and knowingly lead one out of the way of truth) always leads to
misapplication of the divine spiritual principles and eternal events in the
Bible. The end result is always
foolishness and loss. As they trekked
down the mountain I have no doubt they were still sincere in their belief,
truly believing Jesus was coming to get them, however, it was also painfully
obvious that they did not do their homework.
Brethren we have the Bible
for a reason. It is our duty and responsibility to read it and nourish our
inner man, and so that we too will know the truth. We eat and drink to nourish our outer man. We
dress according to the season, so we will not be uncomfortable. We even have
houses to protect us from the elements.
But, when we die and have no need for all of these things what is
left? What have we done to nourish the
inner man today? If we have time to
watch Christian TV, read the newspaper, the latest Christian novel (any novel
for that matter) or self-help book we have time to read the Bible, the greatest
book that contains all of the help we will ever need. Sadly, most preaching in
Church services today are filled with nothing more then evangelist, pastors,
and teachers hawking their latest books and tapes, and not the Word of
God. If you feel the Bible is too
difficult start with the four Gospels:
Matthew, Mark Luke, and John.
Underline passages that are meaningful to you, those which grab your
attention and highlight important scriptures to you. When you go to Church take notes. I am
utterly dismayed when I go to Church and see the majority of people not taking
notes. Our Pastor is very easy to follow, because he has key points,
scriptures, and references up on screens to help capture what God is saying to
us and it makes for easy note taking. I
guess a lot of folks have better memory capacity then I do, because quite
frankly I forget week to week, hence one of the reasons I take notes. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk
of the word that ye many grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is
gracious.” (1 Peter 2:2-3) Remember the best is yet to come. Written by Karen
Stahl.
POETRY CORNER:
Taken from Smoking
Flax
TROUBLE IS A SERVANT
By John Wright Follette
All of us know trouble at least I hope we do.
Trouble is a servant, but known as such to few.
We are taught to shun her, and if she comes too near
Seldom de we face her, but run away in fear.
Good and bad must meet her, the universe around
Sinners, saints, kings, and knaves she comes where man
is found.
Always make her serve you, for she can serve you well;
Just how you may use her your life will always tell.
Trouble is but passive it’s by our power to will
We make her either bless us or do the soul some ill.
How do you translate her from phrases filled with pain
To message of strength from loss to endless pain?
By faith we see behind the outer frightful mask?
A servant in disguise to do a gracious task.
Hearts may feel her wounding and life may suffer loss.
Faith translates her working as freeing gold from
dross.
Trouble will discover to any yielding heart
Hidden depths of power it only knew in part
Sympathizing power, and love that understands;
Strength to help another with trouble-tested hands.
Trouble will release you from self and make you kind.
Do not shun this servant but look beyond her task
To beauty she will work for which you daily ask.
Always see in trouble a chance to grow in grace,
Not a stroke of evil to hinder in your race,
Live the life triumphant above her fiery darts;
Rich fruitage will be yours to share with needy
hearts.
DEAR FRIENDS:
January 05 has come in like a storm full
of promise. We must always remember, God speaking is His intention for us and
situations in our lives, this is why “with God all things are possible,”
(Matthew
Karen “my sweetheart” and the kids
send their love. Dan and Sarah in
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: “God Still Performs Miracles Today: A Book of Person Encouragement.”
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,
FUTURE SCHEDULE:
January: Local ministry
February: Local ministry
March:
I am still available to share what God has given me at
churches and/or home groups. Also, 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
If you know someone
who would enjoy receiving this newsletter or if you receive this newsletter and
do not wish to please let me know. Also
if you would like to contribute to this ministry please feel free to contact me
with the above information. Costs ever increase.
PLEASE look within
your abilities to begin supporting or to increase your support to cover these
costs. The cost is great, but the cost for not supporting is even greater. And
remember, all donations are tax deductible.
