Five-Fold Today - Hungry - The Trap Has Sprung - Trust Me - The Eyes of Jesus - The Church: A Model for Other Churches - A Season Of Liberty - Earthen Vessels That Are the Carriers of My Glory - The Sound Of Falling Petals - Come to Me

July 7, 2003

Hungry

Jana Alcorn

I have never been hungrier for you than I am now, says the Lord. And there has never been a time that I have had a longing as I do now. Even as I have patiently waited, My expectation has been building and our time means so much to Me. I yearn for you in this season of harvest.

I have planned a massive turnaround for you and I will no longer delay My promises to you, says the Lord. There has never been a time such as this and I have reserved special favors for you in this hour, says the Lord. If you will only believe Me now, with worshipful expectation, you will walk in this immediately, for now, I tell you what I will do, says the Lord!

Jalcorn@aol.com

The Trap Has Sprung

Bryan Hupperts

Hi, SheepTrax!

Some time ago I published an open letter to the President of the United States warning him that he was walking into a trap in Iraq. Most people in the Christian community cheered the preemptive invasion of a sovereign nation citing prophetic verses about the fall of Babylon.

I set an unsubscribe record for myself when I published my letter. Before proceeding, let me lay a few things to rest.

  1. Saddam was a bad guy who murdered his own people, murdered members of his own family, invaded his neighbors, and no doubt would have obliterated Israel and any other country who stood in the way of his political ambitions.

  2. Saddam needed to go.

I have been accused of being a conservative, right-winger fanatic by liberals, a closet liberal by conservatives, and a libertarian by both sides of the political spectrum. The truth is far simpler: I get my politics from the Sermon on the Mount. Either Jesus meant what he taught or he didn’t.

A warmongering and sadly now former friend of mine and I were discussing the immorality of war. OK, he was cheering the Iraqi invasion while I nearly wept at the carnage to come. I quoted to this Bible believing saint Matthew 5: 9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

His reply? “Come on, Bryan. Be practical.” He then retorted with Edmond Burke’s famous dictum, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” I can conclude from what proved to be our final civil conversation that Jesus wasn’t practical? Either we are called to be peacemakers as the sons of God or we are not.

This may surprise you, but I am not against war. The scripture states, in Romans 12:18, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” Some neighbors are harder to love than others, Saddam being one of them. Aside from the injury and death to civilians and soldiers on all sides of this conflict, my concerns for the USA’s involvement in this strike much more ominously closer to home.

Jesus gave another one of his “impractical” statements when he warned, in Matthew 7:2, "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

The Christian President of the USA made a judgment: Saddam has to go, citing his alleged (and quite probably true) development of weapons of mass destruction, for murder, for… well, crimes against humanity.

The USA is guilty of the blood of our own. We have murdered some 40 million people by legalizing abortion. Like Saddam, we also murder members of our own families, the unborn. We are awash in a sea of innocent blood. Saddam killed his thousands, the USA her tens of millions. Who is guiltier before God?

The USA led the world in the development of weapons of mass destruction. We developed much of the technology of terror, of biological and chemical warfare. There are still people in Vietnam walking around with Napalm tattoos grateful they at least survived the immoral incineration waged against them. When it comes to nuclear WMD, the USA is the only country that has actually used it! Again, who is guiltier before God?

While a brief cheer went up for the stunning US led military victory, pundits were rejoicing that there were so few American and British causalities. Now that we are entrenched in Iraq, and the pundits who were promising a speedy war and a quick, orderly withdraw once a new government was in place – didn’t we do this once before, putting Saddam into power? – are now saying we will be there in Occupation for many, many years.

By the way, we now have “oversight” of Iraq’s vast oil reserves. Considering our President has a background in oil, and it was oil money that helped him get elected, does anyone else see a potential conflict of interest here?

Am I the only one keeping a body count of how many American soldiers are being murdered daily in attacks and assassinations by the people we “liberated?” We will soon have more causalities in peace than we did in war, and mind you, we are now in Iraq for a generation or better. Do the math, and order the body bags. We stepped into a trap, and the tap has sprung.

The USA set a standard of judgment to justify toppling Saddam’s regime. Now, if the Bible is correct, God will now use that same standard of judgment against us. While sodomy is punishable by death in Muslim Iraq, in the USA it is now the law of the land. Our Supreme Court has ruled that God is wrong and the people of the USA are morally wiser than Him. Gay marriages are not far off. Again I ask: who is guiltier before God?

Did I also mention that it is the Christian President of the USA who is pushing for the division of Israel, a serious violation of God's covenant with Abraham? Didn't Saddam have a similar objective?

We threw the gauntlet and declared before the world that for Saddam’s crimes, his government must fall. The false prophets in our land cheered this action on. Now, these standards with which we have measured will now be used to measure God’s just wrath against the USA, or was Jesus just being “impractical” again?

To the USA, baring a genuine revival of repentance and faith, of tearing down the wicked laws of this land, and raising a standard of righteousness, I can only echo the words of Jesus in Matthew 23, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness… Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?… Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation… See! Your house is left to you desolate.”

It is a truly frightening future to contemplate that, with our military stretched to the breaking point, we cannot adequately defend our own borders. We are vulnerable to invasion. Will other nations conspire and weigh us in the balance, deciding that we are guilty of creating weapons of mass destruction, of murdering our own, and that for our crimes against humanity, our immoral nation must fall?

God help us.

Bryan Hupperts © 2003
SheepTrax Media ™
deepsheep@sheeptrax.com
www.SheepTrax.com
http://www.sheeptrax.injesus.com

Trust Me

Shirley Lise

I will put things into order, into proper perspective. I will enlighten those of My choosing to the work. I will give vision according to My plan and purpose.

Trust Me. Trust My lead. Do not let anyone throw you off track. I have anointed and appointed those of My choosing for the task ahead. I have given expertise to those who acknowledge Me. I will not let My purposes go overlooked, but I will highlight them to those who are open to hear from Me.

Great abundance is coming your way. Graduate. Come onto a higher level with more authority. I promised you that your whole household shall line up with My agenda and purposes and I am moving behind the scenes to work these things out. I am bringing joy, great joy, for I shall break through the barriers and appoint each to his task.

Watch Me dismantle the building built by men. Watch Me take power out of the hands of men and pour it into vessels fit for My use. I see your sons and daughters in this light. They shall be positioned in the land to prosper in the things of the Lord. I shall encompass them with My love and clothe them with righteousness. I shall give to them blessings untold. Did I not say that I am raising up this generation to be a light to the Gentiles? This is the sign of My coming.

I shall, indeed, raise up a people who honor Me not with their lips, but with their hearts. This is the generation that will step out of the mold to be a witness of the Father's heart to the lost and erring. I shall counsel and equip them, and birth within them the Father's heart.

Do not limit Me. I am bigger than what you conceive. My ways are higher than man's ways. I work through the mundane, everyday encounters. I will turn the heads of the people and direct their attention to what I am doing. They will stand in awe of the dexterity with which My own shall move.

I will equip your sons and your daughters with tools of the trade and they shall be instruments in My hands.

Watch to see Me move My plan forward. I am not a father who abandons his children, but I uphold them with My strong right arm. And I have not abandoned your children, but I have, indeed, passed the baton onto them and they shall run with the Father's heart beating within them. Only I can accomplish such a feat.

Only I can pour out upon your children and I shall pour out and pour out upon them till they are filled to overflowing with the love of Christ. This is a day when I shall transform the weak into powerhouses.

http://users.sgci.com/~riverpub
riverpub@sgci.com

The Eyes Of Jesus

Doug Morrell

Love your neighbor as yourself. Luke 10:27

We must love our neighbors as ourselves, and this is easy to do, if we - as is our duty - love God more and better and with greater and more frequently than ourselves. We must do to others as we would want them do to us; this is loving our neighbor as ourselves.

From this parable we learn three principles about loving our neighbor:

  1. Lack of love in my life is often easy to justify; I can find ten thousand reasons to not love, but there is only one reason to love - He first loved me.
  2. Our neighbor is anyone of any race, creed, or social background who is in need - not just the person next door.
  3. Love means acting to meet a person's need. Where I live, there are needy people close at hand. There is no good reason for my refusing to help.

Somehow many of us have gotten the idea that self-love is wrong. But if this were the case, it would be pointless to love our neighbors as ourselves. The Apostle Paul explained what he meant by self-love. Even if you have low self-esteem, you probably don't willingly let yourself go hungry. You clothe yourself reasonably well. You make sure there's a roof over your head if you can. You try not to let yourself be cheated or injured. And I get angry if someone tries to ruin my marriage. This is the kind of love we need to have for our neighbors. Do we see that others are fed, clothed, and housed as well as they can be? Are we concerned about issues of social justice? Are we building walls of indifference between our neighbors, other churches in our community, other cities, states or nations? Loving others as ourselves means to be actively working to see that their needs are met. Interestingly, people who focus on others rather than on themselves rarely suffer from low self-esteem.

When we are not motivated by love, we become critical of others. We stop looking for good in them and see only their faults. Soon unity is broken. Have you talked behind someone's back? Have you focused on others' shortcomings instead of their strengths? Remind yourself of Jesus' command to love others as you love yourself (Matthew 22:39). When you begin to feel critical of someone, make a list of that person's positive qualities. If there are problems that need to be addressed, it is better to confront in love than to gossip.

The royal law is the law of our great King Jesus, who said, "Love each other as I have loved you" (John 15:12). This law is the basis for all the laws of how people should relate to one another. Christ reinforced this truth in Matthew 22:37-40, and Paul taught it in Romans 13:8 and Galatians 5:14.

We must treat all people as we would want to be treated. We should not ignore the rich, because then we would be withholding our love. But we must not favor them for what they can do for us, while ignoring the poor whom can offer us seemingly so little in return.

Today, let us think seriously about the One Who made all things possible.

Let us be a covenant people dedicated to fulfilling both the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. Let us love our neighbor as ourselves and purpose to both know Christ and make Him known to a world void of understanding and wisdom.

Father God, I come to you now thanking You and rejoicing in Your great love and mercy. Thank you for loving me a setting me free - free to become all You desire and free to serve You freely. Impress upon my heart a greater love for those around me. Let me see You, my Lord. Open my eyes so that I may see the hungry and the thirsty, the stranger and the naked, the sick and the imprisoned - so that I might see You. In the sweet name of Lord Jesus Christ, AMEN.

Grow in grace and truth,
doug morrell

A fellow servant in the work of the Kingdom.
__________________________________

Christian Outfitters - Live Christ Deliberately!
http://www.christianoutfitters.com

The Church: A Model for Other Churches

A.W. Tozer

...so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. For from you the word of the Lord sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. --1 Thessalonians 1:7,8

I would like to see a church become so godly, so Spirit-filled that it would have a spiritual influence on all of the churches in the entire area. Paul told some of his people, "you became a model to all the believers" and "your faith in God has become known everywhere" (1 Thessalonians 1:7,8).

It is entirely right that I should hope this of you. I could hope that we might become so Spirit filled, walking with God, learning to worship, living so clean and so separated that everybody would know it, and the other churches in our area would be blessed on account of it....

There is no reason why we could not be a people so filled with the Spirit, so joyfully singing His praises and living so clean in our business and home and school that the people and other churches would know it and recognize it. The Counselor, 9,10.

"Lord, our church will probably never be an example of great success or size, such as the ones usually held up as models. But please, Lord, enable us to be a model of godliness, Spirit-filled victory, joy, and worship. Amen."
_______________________________________________________________
Read "Insight for Leaders" online at:
http://www.litmin.com/tozer.php3

A Season Of Liberty

Marsha Burns

You are entering a season of liberty in which you will be released to express yourself with greater freedom than you have previously experienced.

Now is a time when you will be released from bondages and limitations that have held you down, and you will be taken off the beaten path of what you would consider to be normal or traditional for your own life.

However, for you to maximize the benefits of this season, you must stay focused spiritually so that you are not tempted through discontentment to express this newly found freedom by way of seduction in the flesh.

This liberty will enhance your relationship to Me, says the Lord, and will serve to build you up in your kingdom position and empower you uphold the standards of My Word.

Galatians 5:13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

I hear the cries of those who feel rejected and separated from Me, and you are asking, "Where are You, Lord?" I tell you honestly that I have not rejected nor abandoned you, but you have separated yourself from Me by rejecting another. For, as it is written, if you say you love Me and hate your brother you are a liar. You have also heard it said that to be perfect you must bridle your tongue. And, again, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Therefore, purify your heart. You separated yourself from Me when you were tempted to compare yourself with others, and the result was envy and insecurity. You rose up in pride to protect your own inadequacy through criticism and unrighteous judgment. Your judgments were not based on My word or My heart, but on your own flesh desires and worldly values. This was betrayal, for I have called you out of the darkness of your own soul into the glorious light of My Spirit, yet you retreated back into the darkness of self-interest and cut yourself off from the light. Turn from this wickedness and accept Me again, and accept and love those who belong to Me. Come and be reconciled, and let us again enjoy sweet communion together.

James 4:6 -8 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Faith Tabernacle
http://ft111.com

Earthen Vessels That Are the Carriers of My Glory

Patsy Shelton

Those of My people that are called to the prophetic are perceivers, or they understand and know My Will, and what I am doing in the earth today. But, I tell you that you have become short sighted. You have skimmed the top what I am doing in the earth today.

All that you have spoken of, and all that has happened, and is happening, has been to prepare My people to be carriers of My Glory. All the trials, testing, adversities, and everything that has come unto My people has been for the purpose of preparing you to be carriers.

When My Spirit came unto Mary, and told her that she would be implanted with a Holy Seed, she replied, "Let it be according to thy will." And because she was a willing vessel to be mocked by others because of her pregnancy, and because she was willing to bear the pain of childbirth, she became a carrier of My Glory in physical form.

It was a foreshadowing that My Glory would be carried in earthen vessels. The Ark of the Covenant was the original carrier of My Glory, and oh the intricate work and detail that went into preparing it for my presence.

A box of shittim wood, overlaid with pure gold. The mercy seat overlaid with pure gold, where I would commune with man between the two cherubim's that faced each other. All overlaid with pure gold, representing My Glory. Why was it covered with pure gold? Because that gold represented My divine government, and My divine rule. And inside that box, I placed my heart on tablets of stone.

These past seasons, with their problems, trials, testing, have been to prepare you to carry My Glory. Even the spirit of wisdom and revelation that rests upon those that are mine, the purpose being to bring you to a place of preparation. The tablets of stone with the Ten Commandments was placed inside the Ark, because that represents My heart. I have written My commandments in your inward parts and upon your hearts, as I said that I would.

And you are the generation of the new covenant that I made with the house of Israel. And you are that generation of which I speaking when I said " that no more would every man teach his neighbor, and his brother, saying Know the Lord: for they shall all know me from the greatest of them to the least of them and I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more." You are that generation. The generation that has attained intimacy with your God, and I have been preparing you to be earthen vessels, carriers for My Glory.

And the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God, through earthen vessels that are carriers of My Glory.

pattiluepeacock@aol.com

The Sound Of Falling Petals

Mary Lloyd

When you were little, my darling, I sowed in you a precious seed of love within the crusted earth of your cold heart. It was a peculiar seed, a special seed: not earthly but Heavenly. You remember how your heart was torn as it began to break through the soil and germinate. You remember how you cried out to me in pain. How you hurt. How precious was that pain to me when My seed began to grow.

I have watched this love grow as you have watched. I have guarded as you have guarded. I have fought as you have fought when fleshly assailants came to steal it, spoil it, pollute it, unearth it. And all this time it grew and grew. Came a day, my sweet one, when the now strong plant, a handsome rose, began to blossom. How perfect this bloom. How Heavenly this scent! This was the first bloom, and even as you watched it unfold you knew it was "Holy unto the Lord". The most perfect, the most beautiful, the most costly: the first-fruit. You feared it fading and you feared parting with it. But, my sweet one, you gave it to me. From the anchor in your heart you cut it at the peak of its perfection, and you presented it to me, wet with the dew of your tears. Somehow you feared you had killed it by cutting it in this way, and giving it to me. You feared it would soon fade, lose its perfume, wilt and die.

But know this. I am your Creator-God. Nothing you truly give to me in pureness of heart is dead, but alive forever in Me. And I will give Life for all of your dying. And growth. And a great yield. I have known what this giving cost you. And haven't I said "Test Me in this?"

So do not fear the sound of the petals falling. Do not fear the change of fragrance as you die to yourself. Count each falling petal as a promise, a token of my work in you. This is a precious time, a time of completion, for you have worked and laboured hard on this with Me. Close your eyes with Me and know the coming promise of my fruit, it is "Christ in you, the hope of glory". I do not have to tell you again about the ear of corn, that in dying it produces Life. You know.

And now this love I have produced in you through my working has a purpose to fulfill. Witness the strong growth of blossoms as you seek to love the lonely, feed the hungry, save the lost, making disciples of all nations.

It is time.

mary@latter-rain.com

Come to Me

Gertrude Jensen

My people, My children, gather around, move in close. My peace shall surround you, My love embrace you. Feel My Love as a warm river passing around you, washing your cares away, holding you up, embracing you. I created you, I know that you are human, riddled with fragilities, besieged by temptations. I am here-only just be still and listen to Me.

I am your answer, your security and the lifter of your soul. Reach out to Me -- take time in My Presence and I will fill you to overflowing. You are precious to Me, I gather you in My arms and hold you close.

You are Mine, My little ones, My children, how I love you! Accept the gift of My love. Reach out for it, stand in it, let it fill you, wash you, heal you and make you whole. Oh, you are My special ones -- My Spirit shall fill you and you will walk on water, rivers will part for you and mountains shall crumble at your word. Nothing will harm even a single hair on your head. My love is enough for you, it will sustain you from this day forth. Today is a new world for you--filled with My blessings and Love. Come to Me and be filled.

gdjensen@peoplepc.com

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