Deeper Truths for Hungry Hearts
November 2012 • Volume XI Number 03
”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. “ (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Thoughts for Consideration:
Greetings again my Brethren. As we behold God’s glory we are changed not into all of God’s glory, but into only that part of God’s glory we can behold. And we behold Him, “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14) we can come into an intimate and personal relationship with Him. God is not only full of grace, but He also is full of truth something most men are very uncomfortable with. We like the grace part, who does not want more grace, but to have the grace part we must embrace the truth part. I would say we probably would have to embrace the truth part before we have the ability in God to embrace the grace part. Grace without truth most often will lead us out of God. If we study (not read) the Bible closely we will discover (we do not find things in God we discover them like a treasure in a field) God desires such a relationship with us. Now I find this amazing to know God, the Master of time, the all and in all, wants to have a relationship with us and in His word He tells us of this love and desire for us. In Genesis God calls to man, “And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” (Genesis 3:8-9) I wonder if God has stopped calling unto man? And that answer would be no, deep calleth unto deep. God is still calling as He did to Adam, it is not is God calling, but are we hearing? Here in Genesis Adam heard God’s call and was confronted with the truth not God’s grace. Again we cannot have God’s grace until we first meet God’s truth. In Jeremiah we find God remembers past relationships, “Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.” (Jeremiah 2:2) God remembers what we have done and how we have loved Him and yes even how we have not loved Him what we have not done for Him. God knows all things. God even knows what we shall do for Him in the future and how we shall love Him and in spite of all of our coming short of His glory and yes sin He still loves us. Even when God is provoked by our indifference towards Him, “The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. 2I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD. 3I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD. 4I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests; 5And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham; 6And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.” (Zephaniah 1:1-6) When we read the names above we often think God is talking to those people, well that is not the way the Holy Spirit works. God never does things singly. Yes, He is talking to those people in their time, but at the same time God (through the power of the Holy Spirit) is talking to us. Remember the Holy Spirit is to lead and guide us to all truth. And when we get off track and go our way from the eternal way God has for us to go please know our relationship with Him is greatly in question. In spite of God’s love for His creation He could still say, “I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD” speaks volumes to how God feels about our indifference towards Him. Ah, but in Hosea we find the heart of God for man and how much God wants to be wanted, “For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him. 15I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.” (Hosea 5:15) Six times in Zephaniah 1:1-6) God says “I will” do something, but in Hosea 5:15, four times in one verse God said “I will” do something. God wants to be invoked (because He loves us) in our lives even if it means He has to destroy some things we are built on that are not of Him. And last again in Hosea (and I really like this one) we find God yearns for man, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. 5I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. 6His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. 7They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.” (Hosea 14:4-7) Again God says “I will heal their backsliding,” “I will love them freely,” and “I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.” What a beautiful picture of God’s love for us, what a beautiful picture of God’s desire to have an intimate relationship with man to come to know God personally, not mere knowledge or information about God, but a personal knowledge of God.
Well this brings us to the close on this teaching on the knowledge of God, what a depth of understanding we covered I thank God for the opportunity to be able to open up the Scriptures and break off some of His broken bread for us to eat of. All of this teaching can be found on our website at “Monthly Newsletters.” Next month as the LORD leads I will be starting an in depth series on the Call of God, “Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. 8Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.’ (Psalms 42:7-8) Can you hear Him call?
ARTICLE REVIEW:
What is Missing
Karen, Joshua, Jenna, and I went on a wonderful trip to visit Karen’s family up in New Jersey. John and Mary (Karen’s sister) are always gracious hosts going out of their way to ensure a great time was enjoyed by all. It is always good to see family over the holidays. The older I get the more I see just how important our decisions are. What we choose to do in the present (that becomes the past with a short passing of time) have great eternal impact on our spouses, our children, and others future. It is interesting to know our present day choices most often have a greater impact more on the well-being and future of others more than with us directly. This is why it is critical we pay attention to our spiritual perception and awareness at all times. I think one of the greatest areas of lack in most Christians (or maybe it is just me) today is the slow, but gradual drifting away from the things of God. Paul warns us to “take heed” to this slow, but deliberate slide away from God, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12) Twelve times in the New Testament Paul warns the Church to “take heed” even Peter joins Paul in this warning in 2 Peter 1:19. “Taking heed” is one of the most important messages of the New Testament to the Christian then and even more now, but today I do not see this warning being heeded. I know in my life I see areas that need greater attention. This gradual drifting off track from righteousness, integrity, and truthfulness in our lives is always seen best though the clear prism of time. Remember in God it does not matter how we start, but how we end. So many Christians start out zealous with good intentions in God, but because they do not pay close attention to the things God holds dear (communion with Him in time spent and in His word, Godly order in relationships, or having a Godly example to present to the world) instead often we focus on things that add to our self-strength and self-ability (compromising to keep the peace, making money for a greater life of ease, or being all we can be and not what God wants us to be) and in time we seem to get waylaid along the way God has for us to go. More of a concern is we do not know we are getting off track. You know it is sad to get off track, but it is even sadder not knowing we do not know we are getting off track. And the longer we go off track the harder it is to get back on. It is really strange how that works. The longer we go in our denial of what God is saying about our obedience to His word the stronger we grow in our self-strength and hard-hearted attitude.
As is seems to becoming a custom we made our family trek to New York City. John (Mary’s husband) was the tour guide and did a great job. We went to some of the usual tourist stops in the City: Staten Island Ferry to Battery Park, Ground Zero (once was the World Trade Center). Wall Street, China Town, Time Square, Rockefeller Center, back to Wall Street to see the bull, back to the Staten Island Ferry, and then off to Poppy’s (Karen’s father) home for pizza and pictures. Of course we took buses and the subway to get the entire flavor of the culture. When we stopped in the M&M Store up on Time Square and 7th Avenue to use the bathroom I asked Jenna, our son Joshua’s wife, what was missing and she replied I did not know. Well all along the many miles we walked and rode I noticed how God had been conveniently erased from the landscape. From one stop to the next the glory of man’s self-strength and ingenuity was on display through skyscrapers of steel and concrete, building after building screamed of man’s ability and achievement, but God was no where to be found. The stretch limos dotted the roads. The lavish apartments of TV and Broadway celebrities and of course the Barons of Wall Street filled the tops of the high rise apartments to the stars. The glory of man’s marketing and greed was seen from store to store. The finest man could offer was seen in the finest city in the world, but God was absent. On the streets people peddled second and third hand goods as they lied saying they were selling genuine Rolex watches or quality handbags. My friend the Bible says, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Psalms 14:34) No matter how you spin it people hustling a lie on the street to make a living is just wrong before God. Sin is sin no matter what the color of skin or their social condition or status. New York City may be nice to look at to the eye, but if God is not included in the picture it is nothing more than a dung heap. I am sure the Tower of Babel was nice too. Nowhere was God to be found. Not one mention of His name, not one sign that even remotely spoke of God, not even someone on the corner wearing a sign that reads the end is near repent. People rushed about their daily lives, from one store to the next not noticing God was absent. The entire time we walked, talked, rode, and looked was all about the glory of man and his achievements. So my reply back to Jenna at the M&M Store was God. God was missing from all of the places we visited. She was kind of shocked I made such an observation after all we were just out for the day to have a good time. But in God it is never just out for the day to have a good time, it is always about doing His will and being sensitive to His Spirit. Now here is where it really gets interesting. After teaching Jenna a good lesson (or so I thought) I was feeling good about myself, but later as we walked God asked me what was missing. And of course I replied You. And He replied correct, but where am I missing? I replied, in New York City and He said wrong in your heart. Now when God says we are wrong we better pay attention. I was stunned and shocked, in my heart I asked. And He said yes. You have allowed the glamour and glory of New York City to replace the glory of My Spirit in your heart. Oh how ashamed I was. The terror, panic, feeling of loss, and shame I felt. I did not even notice the absence of God’s Spirit. I asked God to forgive me for my waywardness. You know we go after the things we want. Either we hunger and thirst after the things of God or we will hunger and thirst (even unknowingly) after the things of the world. It is our choice. It all depends on our desires and heart condition. Now you may not agree with me, (that is okay with me) but I believe there is a demonic spirit over New York City that magnifies and exalts the ambitions and self-strength of man. After I finished repenting, the Lord brought these verses to my heart, “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” (Romans 13:11-12) It is our choice whether or not we “put on the armour of light.” How do we “put on the armour of light?” By “casting off the works of darkness.” My friend we will either be filled with the things of the world (works of darkness) like all of the self-strength and glory of man or the things of God (the armour of light) like the fruit of the Spirit of God and His ways. It is our choice. What a lesson in God. Please do not think you can skirt the fringe in God and taste of the world. Samson did this and paid for it with his life and something more precious, the anointing of God in his life. All of the people who say, they love to go to New York City, for the museums, the parks, the shopping, the crowds, etc. know not the things of God. God is not involved with such things. God is involved with the affairs of man’s heart and how man adjusts to the things of the world. We preach time and time again we are not of this world we are strangers just passing through, but dig our heels in and hold on to our 401K and financial portfolio with everything within us when God begins to rip us out of this world.
There is a divine spiritual principle that comes into play here in Romans 13:12, we must meet before we can walk in the truth of this verse. Please notice we must first “cast off (or take off) the works of darkness” before we can “put on the armour of light.” The works of darkness do not just fall away as some teach. I hear many teach just walk with the Lord and in time your sins and bad habits (works of darkness) will just fall away and be replaced by the things of God (the armour of light). Well my friend this is just wrong denominational and religious teaching. We must take off, we must “cast off,” we must stop doing the things of darkness before we can put on the things of God. James tells us, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist (flow in the opposite direction) the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” (James 4:7) If the devil (sin or evil) is going to the left then we must go to the right. Resisting the devil is not saying I resist you in the name of Jesus, but putting physical movement away from sin or evilness. Resisting is action not words. We will never be able to “draw nigh to God” unless we first flow in the opposite direction to resist sins and evil. Now these verses make little sense to our human thinking and ways. The condition for us to be lifted up by God is for us to first, “humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord” and “be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.” Who would think all of this has to happen before we can be lifted up in God? So too, we must take or cast off to put on in God. And God is waiting on us to do our part before He can do His part. I wonder why we think God has to do all of the work in our salvation. Here in Romans we see a picture of a person sleeping, “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep:” not knowing what time it is, because they are asleep. They have drifted off and now are asleep. So too are many in the world today. They have been rocked to sleep by all of the singing, dancing, sermons, and work centered religion in most churches and are drunk with the glory and beauty of the things worldly religion offers. “Take heed,” wake up! Before it is too late!
The words “salvation” in Romans 13:11, is the same thought conveyed in John 17:3 when Jesus said, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3) “Salvation” and “life eternal” both are all about knowing God. If we desire to know God we will not be so concerned about seeing and knowing about all of the beauty and glory of the world. Our heart thoughts will be on knowing Him. Remember John 17:3 is not talking about the church coming into unity with each other this can never happen unless we all allow God to deal and judge in our lives at the same degree whereby God’s dealing and judgment become the basis of our unity and not what we believe or not believe. And it will also be what tells us when something eternally important is missing in our lives.
Written by David Stahl
THOUGHTS FROM KAREN:
Karen will not be adding an article this month.
NEEDS NOT WANTS:
1. In Silistra, Bulgaria Pastor(s) Niki Marsov and Emil Nedelchev. Times are troubled in Bulgaria and need much prayer.
2. Constanta, Romania Pastor George Ritisan at Lighthouse Church, and Ciprian Bozdod at the Mission Bible School. They too are expanding making more room for God and ministry to Eastern Europe, Turkey, and Asia.
3. In Suceava, Romania Pastors Nicu and Pastor Marcel at St. Andrews Church.
4. Pastor Joseph Mutua in Nairobi, Kenya needs your prayer and financial support.
5. Pastor Mike Olufemi in Aveile, Nigeria. He needs our prayers and support to be a light in great darkness.
6. Pastor S. J. Peter, Founder of DAWN Ministries in Hyderabad and Pastor Wilson and his son Pastor Julian in Sankaraguptham, India.
7. Pastor Metin Mintaz and the members of Uskudar Son Buyruk Kilisesi in Istanbul, Turkey.
8. Pastor Elieti Msangi in Dar Es Salaam and Pastors Isreal Mutaitina and John Balone in Bukoba, Tanzania.
9. Monthly financial support Vivian’s Maternity and Child Care Clinic project in Aviele, Nigeria.
10. Pastor Tek Dahl at Gethsemane, Church (his church) and their radio station “Good News 105.1 FM” in Kathmandu, Nepal.
11. Bishop John, Samuel Kamanzi (from the Congo), and, Emmanuel Ndolimana in Ruhengeli, Rwanda.
FUTURE SCHEDULE:
November: Okinawa, Japan
December: Local ministry
January: 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 support BHG or other ministries we personally know we would be honored to serve as a go between. Remember, if we want a blessing from God the spiritual principle is we must bless others. Remember, God is to you what you are to God.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Address:
David and Karen Stahl
232 Everett Drive
Sneads Ferry, NC 28460
Phone:
Home: (910) 741-0489
Mobile: (910) 382-9287
FAX: (910) 741-0489
Email:
Ministry E-mail: dstahl@beholdinghisglory.com
Personal E-mail: mtnebo@hotmail.com
Online:
Beholding His Glory Website
Beholding His Glory Blog
The AuthorHouse link below will lead you to our latest book, “Thoughts for Consideration.” Just copy it into your web browser and return. Also you can purchase two of our other books “Adventures with God.” and “God Still Performs Miracles: A Book of Personal Encouragement.”
http://www.authorhouse.com/AuthorCenter/Protected/BookHome.aspx?bookID=61464
Please take a minute and take a look, they all make for a great encouraging gift, giving hope and sharing God’s love through a deeper teaching that someone can enjoy again and again. All of our books can be purchased at all book stores like Barnes and Nobles, Borders, Book-A-Million, and etc., any Christian Book Store that orders, and all book ordering on-line companies like Amazon.com. Or if you are like me from the old school just contact us, we will let you know the price, and then we will mail it out to your home address. Postage and handling is on a case by case basis.
We are projecting to use the royalties for: our maternity clinic in Aveile, Nigeria, radio station in Katmandu, Nepal, TB clinics in Ethiopia, and Lord willing the Bible Schools in Kenya, Rwanda, and the Congo, and to help publish more books. We have five more books at different stages of production. 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 us 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.
