Deeper Truths for Hungry Hearts
September 2011 • Volume X Number 1
“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.This month we will start a new section as we continue to study knowing God, not knowing Him with our head and mental ability, but with our heart and soul. There is a huge difference. Most Christians have a working knowledge (have memorized Scripture and can recite them at the drop of a hat, but know not the truth of these verses) of God, but that is not what God wants, oh no my friend God wants us to have a heart knowledge of Him where we personally and even intimately know Him.
Now it is amazing to know God has an emotional nature. Many Christians think of God as the old man upstairs or a big sugar daddy who wants to meet our every need, but these are concepts from men who know not God. God is a benevolent dictator who gets angry, feels pleasure, feels grief, experiences joy, hates, loves, is jealous, goes after revenge, and even feels pity. This month we will begin by looking at God’s emotion of anger. In Numbers we read, “And the anger of God was kindled against them, and he went away; 10 and the cloud departed from off the tent. And behold, Miriam was leprous as snow; and Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.” (Numbers 12:9-10) Miriam, Moses sister spoke against Moses and God punished her for her quick and judgmental tongue. Miriam thought she was chiding and railing on Moses, but in reality she was speaking against Moses, God’s representative before the people. Make no mistake my friend our spiritual authority in relationship before God and man is often life and death to us. We must measure our tongue and take heed to our words. Miriam learned this lesson the hard way. We think a good blessing or victory will cause us to grow spiritually, but we see this is not true.
In Exodus we read, “And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.” (Exodus 15:21) What a great victory they experienced I can see Miriam with her tambourine dancing (like in some churches we go to) and singing, but the truth is she carried this anger for her brother through this great victory and across the Red Sea, but in due time (like with us all) God exposed her heart, there was no singing and dancing from Miriam then. And in Deuteronomy we read, “But God was wroth with me on your account, and did not hear me; and God said to me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter! 27 Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes; for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.” (Deuteronomy 3:26-27) Here God was talking with Moses and He told Moses he would not be able to cross over the Jordan River (and enter the promised land) because he misrepresented God by smiting the rock twice with his rod (Numbers 20:11) Both Aaron (as High Priest) and Moses who led the Children of Israel out of Egypt and 40 years through the desert did not make it to their earthly home. Now Mosses did get a view of the land beyond the Jordan River, but never entered in. When God’s anger is kindled His word is final, no matter who the servant is. God’s word represents God Himself and even God must honor His own word. Make no mistake my friends God’s Spirit does not always strive (walk with) with man. Yes God is love, but God is also a holy God who must judge sinners and saints alike. I think if we remember this point well we will have far less problems like Miriam and Moses had. Next month we will look at God’s emotion of pleasure.
ARTICLE REVIEW:
God is Looking for Worshipper
One of my teacher’s teachers Walter Beuttler back in the late 50s wrote an outstanding article that talked about from God’s perspective the difference between noise and worship. The Banner from Pinecrest Bible Training Center, in Salisbury, NY republished it. As I read the article I was struck when he said, “I regret that in our day there is so much religious entertainment. The Lord is not looking for entertainers, He is looking for worshippers.” Wow if in his day there was an abundance of Christian entertainment I wonder what he would think of today. His article, “Dew on the Roses,” ( I also have the cassette tape) talks about a little town in Gras, France where they grow flowers and process 100,000s and 100,000s of flowers to make genuine perfume, not the synthetic concoctions from chemicals, but the real genuine perfume. Did you know it takes 9,000 rosebuds to make 16 ounces of essence of roses? And once the flowers open, some of the perfume evaporates, so they harvest the buds very early in the morning. These buds get crushed and boiled and then the perfume is extracted. The higher the altitude in which the roses grow, the greater the yield of perfume. Is that not a great thought? Thus the perfume from higher altitudes are more expensive, so too in our wondrous walk with the Lord. The longer we go with God the deeper we are to go; which is down not up like with the roses. Remember, the way up is down. Yet the cost and price for the fragrance of the Lord, like with the roses, is very expensive and will cost us dearly if we desire to have the genuine Spirit. The essence of perfume; how few people know of the sacrifice and hard work needed to collect and process it, but many greatly want to buy it to smell good. Many then and many more today are willing to settle for the synthetic concoctions as they make their approach to the Lord with their emotions and through a mental assent. They are not willing to go through the crushing and boiling process of the Lord. They are not willing to pay the great price to receive the genuine Spirit. Walter Beuttler made the observation and I very much agree, “there is a great difference between mere noise and worship.” Noise is what we see on stage in most churches today. Words and musical notes that come out NOT from a brokenness and crushing by God, but out from a God-given talent and ability. Now one would say, Dave how can you say this, well my friend it is easy to see and feel the genuine Spirit of God bearing witness in our spirit. Did you know there is a big difference between a broken person and a gifted person?
No where is this difference highlighted any more than when a man takes up the things of God to minister life. And yes, there is a big difference between noise and worship. True worship from the heart never leads to defeat in God. Victory is the place God desires for us (we must see and believe this), but this too depends on our ability to walk in the way He has for us to go and are we willing to come down in our hearts and allow Him to work in our lives? In 1 Samuel we see noise does not do much for the children of God. I think in most churches of today there is a lot of “look at me noise” and God sticks His fingers in His ears until we are done. If the music program, no matter how good it sounds, of a church causes relationship problems among the people how can God be glorified? Unless our words come from a broken and lowly heart they are noise to God. Here in 1 Samuel we read, “So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. 6And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the LORD was come into the camp. 7And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore. 8Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. 9Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight. 10And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. 11And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.” (1 Samuel 4:4-11) Even the Philistines were not moved by the Israelites’ worship, and why? Please notice the going up in their hearts of the Israelites or the presumption (presuming to think they were right, but in reality they were wrong) they were moving in because God (the Ark of Covenant) was with them. Unless we have the right heart condition God will not be with us. You can ask Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas, and the 30,000 footmen who were slain.
My friend do not be deceived by this doctrinal anti-Christ teaching of today like; just reach out in song, dance, whatever, and touch the heart of God. Oh no my friend, we touch the heart of God when we willfully (better us than God bending our knee) lower ourselves in our thinking and willfulness. Now let us please contrast this very sad story with one in 2 Chronicles. “And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; 13That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. 14And they sware unto the LORD with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets. 15And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about.” (2 Chronicles 15:12-15) “True” worship in God will separate those who do not have a “true” heart for God and will always be seen in their lack in being able to give honor where honor is due and in their lack of integrity in their lives. It was not the instruments or shouts that moved God, but it was their desire to seek God in an oath and their swearing with their whole heart, and then God was found. Often times we are not willing to go down to the levels of our heart to worship God, but are satisfied (and think God is satisfied too) with the singing, shouting, and playing of instruments. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. God has told us time and time again in His word He is not after the words from our mouth, “Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:” (Isaiah 29:13) Jesus taught, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matthew 15:8-9) When will we learn God is after our heart obedience and willingness to do what He wants us to do?
There is a striking similarity, to be a true worshipper of God, that parallels our need to be broken and contrite and us worshipping God. We seem to link our talents and abilities with worship, but God does not care how good we sing, dance, or play an instrument, but He is very concerned “how” we treat our friends and even our enemies. Real worship before God is not a matter of tearfully singing softly or instruments effecting our emotions, but of our brokenness and having a heart that is contrite before God. Watchman Nee said, “the broken alone are useful to God,” the more I see myself not being that broken vessel (even though I so desire) I believe his words with all my heart. Moses learned this lesson 40 years on the plains of Midian and the back side of the desert watching his father-in-law’s (Jethro) sheep in silence and solitude and then learned it again as he led His Father’s sheep 40 years in the wilderness. With each accusing word and accusation he worshipped the Lord. With each goaded misunderstanding and wrongful criticism he worshipped, the One who could save him. I too have recently relearned this again. This seems to be one of those lessons we really never ever learn, but through them all we become a better worshipper. If you serve God long enough He will see to it you learn this lesson too. In Exodus we find Moses interceding for the children of Israel, “And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. 8And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. 9And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.” (Exodus 34:5-9) Here we see “true” worship (Strong’s #7812, to bow down, prostrate oneself ) has nothing to do with singing, dancing, flag waving, or any of this foolishness, but bowing down our heads (our thoughts, dreams, hopes, plans, our self, all we desire) before God. You cannot really worship God unless you have been broken by God. And He alone gets to pick the sacrifices. David too knew the key to “true” worship was being broken and contrite before God. He tells us in the Psalms, “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite (crushed and ground to powder) spirit.” (Psalm 34:18) and “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” (Psalm 51:17) I wonder where he learned this? Maybe when Nathan stood before him and said, “you are the man” “True” worship brings us before God as we are and not what we think we are, but it strips away our selfishness and self-centered heart condition.
I really like the end of Walter Beuttler’s article. “Oh His presence! Do you smell it? How much nicer when you just sit in that quietness and worship God. That’s the real thing. By the way, before you walk through the town of Gras, you can smell the town before you get near it. And after you come out of those factories, the scent of that perfume stays on your clothes many hours. People can tell, I know where you were. You were down in the scent factory, weren’t you?” “True” worship stays with us all of our lives. What is on our clothes?
Written by David Stahl
THOUGHTS FROM SARAH:
The Inner Workings of the Holy Spirit
The flesh is not merely weak with respect to the power of rebirth. It’s utterly impotent. It has no power whatever to affect rebirth. It cannot aid or enhance the Spirit’s work. All that the flesh yields is more flesh. It cannot yield one ounce of the Spirit.” Since it’s the job of the Holy Spirit to reveal the nature of God, the directions to do so are laid out in Mark 4:26-29, through seven stages of growth and development:
1. Sowing – “But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.” (Mark 4:32)
2. Time – “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Mathew 13:30)
3. Growth – “Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.” (Amos 7:1-2) The word growth here is only used twice in the entire Bible, and both in this one instance. From the Hebrew meaning the “after crop” or the “latter growth”
4. Effortless – “For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection. Although there is no form of the word ‘effort’ found in the bible, it is the perfect depiction of what is required from us to be made perfect through the workings of the Holy Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 13:9)
5. Stages of growth – Just as a plant must go through stages of development to come into fruition. Christians also experience a parallel occurrence. The Harvest that will one day come to be gathered has gone through a lifetime of preparations in order for the fruit to be most beneficial.
6. Fullness/Maturity – “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” (Colossians 2:8-9)
7. Harvest – “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” (Mathew 9:37-38)
8. God sows. “And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; The conditions of soil in every person.” (Mathew 13:19) Much depends upon our soil as far as what is produced is concerned; and the soils represented in these passages are Christians. First must come a desire to hear; an openness of heart. Whether you can or not is beside the point, but is there a desire present. Understanding is not necessary for sowing, but it is for fruition. Jesus tells the disciples, “What I tell you in darkness.” There was no light of understanding in their hearts. That will develop as a result to an ear who wants to hear. Blessed were their ears, but they were yet without understanding. “But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.” (Mathew 13:16-17) The Holy Spirit works much the same way as a tree. Inactivity does not seem compatible with being the Lord’s servants. But would we say that a great tree is unproductive because it stands and continues to stand? Certainly not. In fact, a tree produces so much fruit in its lifetime and reproduces itself so many times over that it is difficult for the mind to take it all in. The secret is that a tree does a lot while it just seems to be standing there. For one thing, it lifts hundreds of gallons of water a day to its extremities; and that is just part of the internal workings of a tree. It does a lot more than that. Meantime, it just keeps standing there. This is why the Lord said: “Ye shall not need a fight in this battle: yet set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem; fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord will be with you.” (2 Chronicles 20:17) This certainly did not indicate the need for inactivity on the part of God’s people, but rather that they did not need to fight the battle in their own strength. This is where the doubt of the Holy Spirit can weave in and out of the cracks of the beliefs of some. During the restoration movement one of the most evident contributions was the insistence that the Holy Spirit operates only through the Word in conversation and sanctification. The claim of the direct operation of the Spirit led men in all directions. Their feelings and moods became the evidence of pardon. Emotional experiences were offered as proof that the Holy Spirit was working in conversion and sanctification. Thus, each was said to be led by his feelings, not the Bible. This produced contradictory teaching, while each claimed to be led by the spirit. Thus for a period of time the Bible became a neglected book. This result divided the religious world. This can quickly become a slippery slope; standing in a judgmental perspective. The neglectful side of this matter of the restoration movement is one that seems to make church leaders want to bring their flocks into a complete direction change. However, there is some truth to that period of time that seems to have been distorted. You see, His ways are not our own, His plans are not our plans. Christians must be cautions not to take a “good” work done in our own strength and slap on a label reading “God was here.” Yes, He can make good from a bad situation, but why not do it His way from the get go. The truth is when the Spirit moves and works in lives, wondrous things outside of sheer understanding begins to take place; ultimately bringing souls into preparation for His harvest.
Part 3
Written by Sarah Stahl
DEAR FRIENDS:
The longer I go with the LORD the more I realize just how important our relationship with God (and with friends and family) and our character is to God. The more I see this truth the more I see just how I miserably fail at times in these two areas. Our relationship with God is as easy as devoting time from our very busy day to God. It is time and not work God is looking for from us. And if we spend time with God our work for Him will be correct and productive because it will be according to His wishes. And our character oh how this is ever before me. Oh how I fail (at times) to live my life as I should. It is strange we see our sin and shortcomings of God’s glory after the fact and from God’s perspective. We and others often see things from our perspective; our strength and ability is in our voice, but not so in God. You know it does not matter what we say about ourselves, but it is critical what God says about us.
In 2 Chronicles 13 we read of Abijah, King of Judea, and of the great battle and victory he had over King Jeroboam, King of Israel. King Abijah’s troops were arrayed with 400,000 valiant warriors while King Jeroboam’s army was amassed at 800,000 mighty men of valor. The battle ensued and even though being out numbered 2 to 1 King Abijah won the field, pursued King Jeroboam and as the Bibles states, “And Jeroboam did not recover strength again in the days of Abijah; and Jehovah smote him, and he died. 21 But Abijah strengthened himself, and took fourteen wives, and begot twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.” (2 Chronicles 13:20-21) What a price to pay for defeat, God killed him. But if you would look at Abijah you would think God was in favor of him, but not so. God judges and does things much different than man. Man does things according to reason and practicality, but God does things according to His purpose and will. The sooner we learn this valuable lesson the sooner we will begin to know God, His desire for our lives. In 1 Kings we find what God really thinks of Abijah.
We read, “And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; and his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God, as the heart of David his father. 4 But for David’s sake Jehovah his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem;” (1 Kings 15:3-4) God’s report of Abijah was much different than that of the people and Abijah. God gave him the victory over Jeroboam “for David’s sake” in spite of David’s adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband, “because David did that which was right in the sight of Jehovah, and turned not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Urijah the Hittite.” (1 Kings 15:5) Let us learn to wait for God’s report and allow His dealings and judgments bring us to a place where we can see how much our character is not like His.
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:
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
Our latest book, “Thoughts for Consideration” has been published by AuthorHouse, where you can also purchase it online. You can also purchase two of our other books “Adventures with God” and “God Still Performs Miracles: A Book of Personal Encouragement.”
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.
