THOUGHTS FOR CONSIDERATION:
Greetings again my Brethren. Okay more this month about when Jesus visited the disciples and others in the Scriptures. As we have said in months past Jesus comes for a visit usually when we are in a situation or circumstance not to our liking, but His arrival brings the peace, the calm, and understanding to our hearts. Often His appearing brings the clarity of purpose why the situation or circumstance has come our way. When we were living in Fayetteville, NC one day Jesus came walking my parent’s home. Now my mother bar none was the most spiritual woman I have ever met in my life. I could go on and on with example after example, but unless you knew her you would think I was lying. Anyway, my mom would lay on the couch in the living room with the door open so she could look out the front door as she prayed or just waited before the LORD. One day she was in the living room and she said to my father “hon, hon (she always called my father hon) quick come see Jesus is walking down our road.” Well, my dad got up from his chair (he as watching TV) and ran into the living room and said, “where is He?” Mom said, “He just walked past our house.” So dad darted out on the porch and he said he thinks he saw Jesus go into the house on the corner. Now the house on the corner was owned by Mike a one-time helicopter pilot in the US Army who lost his flight status and was ultimately kicked out of the US Army because he lost his battle with the bottle and his health was very poor. He would come over to our home drunk as a skunk asking for my mother to pray with him and she would. Time and time again he would come over (he would never go inside the house) to our car port in a drunken stupor asking for prayer. Well, on this day Jesus walked past our home and paid a visit to Mike. About two maybe three hours later my parents heard the siren of the rescue squad and saw it come barrelling down the road and it stopped at Mike’s home. We never knew the cause of death all we knew is Jesus stopped by for a visit. In this case we do not know what happened no funeral, the house was sold, and new folks moved in. But you know all of that does not matter. Jesus stopped by for a visit and He (Jesus) was gracious enough to let my mom know what He was doing. This event had a large affect on my dad. At any rate, Jesus’ presence calmed the situation in Mike’s life. Now did Mike go to heaven? I do not know that is not for me to say, but I do know Mike’s situation was taken care of. When Jesus comes for a visit our situations and circumstances are always taken care of. This was the case with the disciples when they were hiding in the upper room, after Jesus was crucified and risen from the dead. Only Marry had seen Jesus, Peter and John heard about it from Mary and went to the empty tomb, but now Jesus appears to the disciples, except for Thomas. In John we read, “Then the same day (the next day or the morning of the resurrection, maybe a Sunday that night) at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace beunto you. 20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.” (John 19-20) Here Jesus stops by for a little visit to let His disciples know what he said was true but probably more important to calm their fears. Jesus told them (his disciples) He would be put to death, but fear not on the third day He shall arise, but they really did not believe Him. In Luke we read, “Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. 32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. 34And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.” (Luke 18:31-34) So Jesus had to let them know His words were true and He is what He said He is, the Son of the living God. When Jesus comes by for a visit the truth or the lie is revealed for what it is. Jesus had to let the disciples know His words were true if not how could they go out to the Jewish people and try to convince them Jesus arose from the dead as He had said? Jesus put them at peace. When Jesus comes by for a visit being the Prince of Peace He brings the peace or maybe a sword depending on the situation. Jesus shows them His hands and His side, I guess He was wearing sandals. And they (the disciples) were glad. Now that answered their physical question is this Jesus, but their real problem was not the physical, but their spiritual lack of understanding because Luke 18 tells us in verse 34, “And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.” The disciples biggest need was their lack of spiritual understanding of which Jesus has to impress on them. When Jesus comes by for a visit most often it is not to change our physical conditions, but to change our spiritual condition forever. This Jesus began to do on that evening. How about you?
Next month we will continue to look at some circumstances in which the LORD has visited man as seen in some diverse situations. Do you see Him draw near? Please know God is near to them who are near to Him. Do you feel His presence? Do you see His hand in your life? He is waiting on us to make our first move. Written by David Stahl
To The Next Level
Faith is one of the most mysterious works of God in our lives. Often times we like to short circuit God working in our lives by going after miracles and such instead of waiting on the LORD or allowing Him to take us through some hard dealings and judgments in our lives. After all getting something for almost nothing feeds our carnal nature the more. Now I will be honest a good miracle makes me stand up and salute smartly, but in the end a good miracle will not get us far in God because a miracle does not develop faith in our lives and in reality it stunts our spiritual growth and development. Remember if the world is running after you God is not. I see so many ministries that are built on signs and wonders, yet Jesus said do not seek a sign He called them “perverse and a wicked generation. Now were they wicked people well I will leave that with the LORD, but for sure they were misguided because of their desire to see something in God instead of becoming something. In the 4th Chapter of Exodus we see Moses learning some lessons that will carry him his entire life. The lesson’s God teaches are to be used our life-time not just for a given situation. Here in the wilderness Moses asked God how will the people know you have appeared to me, “And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. 3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. 4 And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: 5 That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.” (Exodus 4:2-5) Ah a miracle what a sign, but if we look closer we will see much more happening in Moses. Now I do not know about you, but if God told me to reach out and grab a serpent by the tail I am not so sure I would be as obedient as Moses. You know if you grab a serpent by the tail you make a foundation for the serpent to strike. Believe it or not God was testing Moses’ obedience here even to the point of death. God knew if He was going to use Moses as He wanted He had to get Moses to be willing to lay down his life at God’s command. So too in our lives. If we are going to be used by God to do mighty things for God we too must be willing to lay down our lives. No flesh shall glory in the sight of God. So much is missed by many Christians and many people do not receive because many Christians are not willing to put their life on the line. God always asks for everything, nothing is free in God, and nothing is ever left for our self. Once we have made up our mind God can begin to use us beyond our abilities, but not until. Later on in the 4th Chapter of Exodus we see a change in the life of Moses. The rod in Moses’ hand has undergone a name change, now it is called the “rod of God.” In verse 20 we read, “And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.” (Exodus 4:20) The “rod of God” all throughout Moses life was God’s power and authority in his life. Oh that we would have a “rod of God” to do miracles with, we do. Later when Moses has an audience with Pharaoh he uses his rod to do a miracle. “And the LORDspake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 9 When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.” (Exodus 7:8-9) God has already prepared Moses for this encounter and Moses won a great victory, but the victory was short lived. After some time Pharaoh finally let the Jewish people (you know the story) go and off they went into the wilderness (the wilderness has a way of taking care of things in our lives) a wonderful place of spiritual growth and development. The Jewish people left Egypt with the spoils of her treasury in great victory, but this miracle was short lived. In the 14th Chapter of Exodus the Jewish people are trapped (God is good at putting us in a fix so He can fix us) between the Red Sea and 600 chariots of Pharaoh’s army hot on their heels. Here now we find Moses crying. “And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: 16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.” (Exodus 14:15-16) I guess the miracle of the rod to snake and then back to rod again and the miracle of the exodus from Egypt was not enough to build up Moses’ faith for this situation. Moses was reduced to crying! Now let us not beat up on Brother Moses too often this is the position God often finds us. Moses was saying, God you will have to do something or all is lost, come on God do another miracle on our behalf, well that is not what God had in mind. God told Moses (what is in your hand?), “But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it:” Why are you crying to me for another miracle I have already given you what you need to take care of this situation. Here Moses was operating in one level of faith (what he needed God to do for him) but as God saved Moses and the people their faith in God never really increased. We know this to be true, because only Joshua and Caleb (from the original group that left Egypt, even not Moses) made it into the promised land. The others the Bible says their carcasses fell in the wilderness from unbelief. The writer to the Hebrews writes, “But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” (Hebrews 3:17-19) We see in this story from Exodus one level of faith “seeing is believing” (lives characterized by carnality, unstable, and emotional), but that is not God’s best for our lives. There is another level of faith God wants us to move in that is beyond our natural senses and emotions that is the opposite “believing without seeing” (lives characterized by spirituality, stable, and established). Sounds simple, but make no mistake my friend it is not. Faith is not added to us when we see a miracle oh no, but the world and the “church” scream for one. Jesus constantly performed miracle after miracle, but five times in the Bible Jesus said of the disciples “oh ye of little faith.” First of all faith is added to us when we hear from God. It is the way it is the only way. Paul tells us in Romans, “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.’ (Romans 10:17) In the Greek we read, “faith comes by hearing a word from God.” (Romans 10:17 (Greek)) Do you see the difference? In the Greek version (better articulated) it is the word directly from God that contains the faith and everything we will need to do that which God wants us to do. Hearing a word from God contains all of the wisdom, the knowhow, all of the provision, everything we will need. Faith does not come by what we hold on to, what verse we stand on, or even what we believe. I can sit in my garage all day long, go beep beep, and believe I am a car, but that will never make me a car. I am a man created in the image of God. “Faith comes by hearing a word from God,” but there is a deeper level of faith God is looking for in our lives, the believing without seeing. In John we see this play out in the life of Thomas. Now I like Brother Thomas he gets a bad rap too often, but in reality he said and did nothing that almost all Christians have done. In John we read, “And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:” (John 20:26-30) Did you get that? Jesus said, “blessed are they that have not seen, and yethave believed.” The next level in the LORD is in faith not needing to see a sign or a miracle before we believe. We just simply believe based on what the word of God says and what we know in our spirit to be true. Now like for the disciples in verse 30 Jesus still had to do “many other signs” for them to believe even though they touched his flesh. So too I will lay hands on your head till your hair falls out if need be for you to believe, but that is not the best God wants for our lives. Why does the LORD have to keep doing miracles for us? God has already given us everything we need to do His will and plan for our lives. Peter writes, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Peter 1:3-4) The LORD has already given us “all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:” what else do we need? How many more miracles do we need before we believe? What will it take before we can go to the next level where we believe without seeing?
Growing up as a child in Assembly of God, Church of God, Pentecostal, etc. churches I can remember unannounced spontaneous sovereign moves of God where you knew it was God, but it has been over 20 maybe 30 years since I have seen this manifestation of God. I am sure it is not God who has changed maybe it is us. For greater than 15 years I have held before the LORD questioning (if you do not know something hold it before the LORD and in time when you can handle it He will respond) why we do not see this move of God in churches today and I feel God answered my question through this article. In the past there was a simplistic, naive approach as a little child to the LORD where we just believed without having to see or feel something, but that is not the case today. In the past our emotions were dulled by hard work (both in our occupation and in the service of the LORD), commitment, and by a sublime desire to hear from God in a meaningful way, but not so today. Today our emotions are energized with lights, music, sounds, videos, even fog machine with a desire for God to come and bless us, make us feel good (self-seeking songs have sponsored this wrong heart condition) or we have not heard from God. No longer are the hymns (songs sung to God) sung in our assemblies they have become old fashioned and do not represent a hip Jesus. They have been replaced by praise and worship songs (songs sung about God) that seek and even command a blessing from God. Well I will be honest if God never blesses me again that will be okay as long as my wife and family receive from Him. We have forgotten we go to church so that we can be a blessing not so God can bless us. The Christians of yesteryear knew this that is why God met them in their circumstances in a powerful and meaningful way. Our flesh and our senses are fed till they scream, but wait a minute God is trying to kill our flesh so we can be conformed into the image of His dear Son. You know we use the word “spiritual” for all kinds of things, but our forefathers knew being “spiritual” was being sensitive to the Holy Spirit and Him responding back in kind. As we lay our head to the pillow at night we (Karen and I) often listen to teaching tapes from deep spiritual teachers (all who are not with us today) such as Haun, Follette, Beuttler, Taylor and there is such a child-like quality, but a depth that calls unto deep in us. We have become so sophisticated and we think we are “deep” in our understanding, well deep my friend is down where Jesus is, meek and lowly. Maybe that is why I so enjoy going overseas and ministering. There in Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia you find a lowly spirit and a true appreciation for the things of God and for what God provides. I think once we return to a child-like approach to God and stop all of this silly entertainment (can you believe all of the Christian movies? Hollywood found an untapped market, Christians) and self-seeking God will be able to take us to the next level where we do not have to feel or see something, but just believe. Written by David Stahl THOUGHTS FROM KAREN:Separate Yourself
Paul in a letter to the Corinthians says, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord (means accord) hath Christ with belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of GOD with idols? for ye are the temple of the living GOD: as GOD hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them: and I will be their GOD and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-17) The “wherefore” is because of what was previously said we are to, “come out from among them, and be ye separate saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.” Did you get that? “Touch not the unclean thing.” Come out from worldly thinking and ways, come out from the way the world does things, come out from all of the distractions and trappings and “I will receive you.” Since the fall of man GOD has made clear His intention for us to separate ourselves to Him and away from sin. When GOD gave Moses the Table of Testimony and later instructions in Leviticus, it was clear the do’s and don’ts that GOD had for His people was first to separate them to Him and them away from sin and the other nations. GOD made it quite clear they were not to do as the other nations did. How often do we cling to the world and it’s ways and forsake GOD? We are so concerned with “the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches.” (Matthew 13:22). We’ll read books, magazines, articles on the internet, but when was the last time we picked up the Bible and studied it or at least read it? Who are our friends, do they speak of the LORD, do we speak of the LORD with them? Brethren the only one we need to fit in with is GOD through His Son Jesus. If we aren’t on the same sheet of music with GOD, nothing no nothing else matters. And I can double-dog guarantee you GOD will separate you,—IF– you truly are a Believer and want His will. We (do not expect God to do our responsibility) MUST separate our self from sinning (do an about face-repent, which is NOT a one-time thing!) and yes even separate our self from friends and family, even our own children if they are not following GOD. Our all in all is in Jesus, NOT our friends, NOT our church, NOT our religion, and yes NOT even our families or our own flesh and blood. Nothing comes before Jesus. Why, we are suppose to even separate ourselves from our OWN wants, our OWN desires, our OWN ways, even our OWN way of thinking. The more we can achieve the mind of Christ and separate ourselves from sin, the easier it is for GOD to: 1) deal with us. 2) the more people we will help lead to the LORD. And 3) the less we’ll have to learn on the other side when we graduate from here. Be not dismayed my Brethren separating from friends and family though necessary may only be for a season as GOD continues to work in us and them, or we may be separated until we all get to the other side, but praise the LORD for his goodness and faithfulness. Never forget that GOD loves your family and friends more than you do. Rest in that. Study your Bible. GOD Bless. Written by Karen Stahl
NEEDS NO WANTS:- In Dobrich, Bulgaria Pastor Niki Marsov and in SilistraPastor(s) Yanko, and Marcho. Times are troubled in Bulgaria much prayer and support is needed.
- Constanta, Romania Pastors Luke and Jacob at Bethel Church and Ian at the Romanian Center for Cross-cultural Studies Bible School.
- Pastor S. J. Peter, Founder of DAWN Ministries in Hyderabad and Pastor Wilson and his son Pastor Julian in Sankaraguptham, India.
- Dan, Cathy, and members of Uskudar Son Buyruk Kilisesi in Istanbul, Turkey.
- Pastor Elieti Msangi in Dar Es Salaam and Pastors Isreal Mutaitina and John Balone in Bukoba, Tanzania.
- Pastor Tek Dahl at Gethsemane, Church (his church) and their radio station “Good News 105.1 FM” in Kathmandu, Nepal.
- Bishop John, Samuel Kamanzi (from the Congo), and, Emmanuel Ndolimana in Ruhengeli,Rwanda.
