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By Bobbie Jean Merck |
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Storms
will
come,
but
God
delivers
those
who
revere
Him
out
of
them
ALL!
~
Some
weights
that
have
hindered
you
may
have
to go!
~
Follow
Jesus
One
Day,
One
Step
at a
time!
~
The
House
built
upon
the
Rock,
doers
of
the
Word,
will
not
fall!
~
What
has
Christ
spoken
to
you
that
you
MUST
do?
~
Keep
up
your
courage!
~
If
God
be
for
you,
who
can
be
against
you?
~
These
are
the
days
of His
glory! |
It is Good Friday, and I am greatly touched to share with you that with which the Lord has so richly blessed me. It has been working all week. First, the quickening of the Word spoken by Jesus in Matthew 7:24,25. “Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” The storms come when you build your house upon the rock ~ Jesus Christ ~ and hear His sayings and do them. But because you have built your house upon the Rock, it will not fall. As with Paul in Acts 27, as you are journeying toward the destination of the final phase of your call and destiny, the storm comes. Notice the Amplified Bible defines the storm in Acts 27:14 as a violent wind of the character of a typhoon. A typhoon is the strongest of storms. It comes bursting down upon you and upon all that concerns you. This storm is so strong as vs. 15 says, "...the ship could not bear up into the wind...." It was caught and unable to go forward! Paul says “...we gave up... and were borne along.” There is so much to glean from Acts 27. Verse 18 states that they were "...being dangerously tossed about by the violence of the storm....” So, yes, at such times, danger is threatening one’s progress. And though your “house” that is built upon the Rock will not fall, you may have to “lighten your load.” Some weights that have hindered you may have to go. And you and I must cast all our care upon God (1 Peter 5:7). “Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony of the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance – unnec- essary weight – and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us…Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus….Just think of Him….” Hebrews 12:1,2,3 The Amplified Bible The strength and the way of Moses which enabled him to endure in faith was “seeing Him Who is invisible.” This truth has been, is, and shall be the prevailing key in all God’s victorious ones. They lightened the ship the next day (Acts 27:18). And the third day, the ship was stripped of its equipment (verse 19). More had to go. The atmosphere got darker and darker. And they could see neither sun nor stars for many days. In verse 20, an exceedingly great tempest kept raging about them and laid hold on them such that: “…all hope of our being saved was finally abandoned" (The Amplified Bible), or, as the King James Version of the Bible says, "...was taken away.”
Thank God we are people who have “Christ in (us), the hope of glory!" Thank God we are "people of faith and blessed with faithful Abraham." “So then, those who are people of faith are blessed and made happy and favored by God [as partners in fellowship] with the believing and trusting Abraham” (Galatians 3:9 The Amplified Bible). As the Lord Jesus Christ is our ultimate, prevailing hope and example to follow, we look to Abraham also. “[For Abraham, human reason for] hope being gone, hoped on in faith that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been promised, So [numberless] shall your descendants be. [Gen. 15:5.] He did not weaken in faith when he considered the [utter] impotence of his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or [when he considered] the barrenness of Sarah’s (deadened) womb. [Gen. 17:17; 18:11.] No unbelief or distrust made him waver or doubtingly question concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God, Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His word and to do what He had promised” Romans 4:18-21 The Amplified Bible
God clearly spoke to us December 9, 2002 about these first five months of 2003. They are preparation months for the glory (and the counter-attack) that is to come. They are months of pruning, of lightening the load, of the stripping away of all unnecessary and non-God-ordained actions and activities. Actions and activities are the results of what has been going on in the mind. January through May 2003 is a period wherein we may become more single-God-minded than ever. “So brace up your minds; be sober – circumspect [morally alert]; set your hope wholly and unchangeably on the grace (divine favor) that is coming to you when Jesus Christ, the Messiah, is revealed” (1 Peter 1:13 The Amplified Bible). Saints, I am absolutely convinced, when the storm is over the faithful ones will step into their greatest season of glory and destiny ordained by God. Like Paul (Acts 28), they will experience the miraculous; and signs will follow them because God will confirm His Word to those that are faithful! They will be witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ! The God-ordained five-fold ministers will perfect the saints for the work of the ministry, “Preaching to them the kingdom of God and teaching them about the Lord Jesus Christ with boldness and quite openly, and without being molested or hindered” (Acts 28:31 The Amplified Bible). Amen – so be it! What a day and a time that will be, for the house built upon the rock will not fall! Secondly, the Lord has told us what to do when the storms come. “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast” (Isaiah 26:20). Another word for indignation is rage. The storms rages against the ship in Acts 27. No doubt those storms typically came to prevent Paul from reaching Rome which he knew and declared he MUST do! “And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome” (Acts 23:11).
Then… “…enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee….” Hide in the secret place of the Most High. Intercede! Cry out to the Lord, “Show the wonder of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes” Psalm 17:7 The New International Version Jesus promised victory and in Him we are victorious! “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” (Matthew 6:6). Storms necessitate our seeking Him as never before. That is exactly what Paul did. “And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve. Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee” (Acts 27:22-24). I was disturbed as I saw once again the ship would be lost. For I see the ship as our vehicle (ministry or church) in fulfilling our destiny and working that destiny. In other words, A Great Love is “my ship of destiny and fulfillment”: it is the means whereby I serve God, Whose I am. That disturbance now rests in peace as I see it to be whatever and whoever might have been appointed by God, and therefore appropriate in the past for forward movement in fulfilling destiny. But now, “that” is no longer God-appointed and appropriate. Even as some dear loved ones go on to further accomplish God’s perfect will for their lives, yes, it will be loss to our souls, but great joy and strength in our spirits. For the motive and purpose will surely be – that we all might accomplish God’s divine “MUSTS” in our lives. Remember, you will never by without “a ship”! Great revival came on the island called Melita. When that was accomplished, necessary things and a ship to complete their journey to Rome was provided! Paul reached his destination (and destiny) and God’s divine destiny was completed. And so shall it be with us as we follow Jesus, one day, one step at a time. “So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith – complete confidence – in God that it will be exactly as it was told me…” (Acts 27:25 The Amplified Bible). Thirdly, as supernatural, divine revelation came to Paul, it will come to the God-seeking faithful. That revelation will be a quickening by God that will lift us above the storm, anchor our souls in Him, and be a sure guarantee of Him fulfilling His promise to us. The quickening rhema Word of God to you is like the gift of faith. You KNOW it is done, and it is! Such was the rhema word spoken to me yesterday evening: “…great is thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:23). GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS! What He has spoken He will do! What He has done He will do! Not one of His words have failed us! God is faithful! It is Him we depend upon! God is faithful! It is Him we depend upon! Not ourselves! As we could not produce initial salvation in our lives (to be born again), neither can we produce or maintain continuing ultimate salvation in our lives (all needs met and deliverance from all evil). It began and ends in the Lord Jesus Christ – Who He is and what He has done! Our thoughts and eyes MUST and will go to Him! Saints, hear, believe and receive, and obey! God is faithful!
Lamentations 3:21-26 Yes, it is the evil intent of Satan to cause all storms to consume us. But because of the Lord’s mercies, we are not consumed! There are two definite meanings of the word "consume." (Remember, God said “major on mercy” in 2003.) The meaning of "consume" in the bad sense is from the Hebrew word "tamam.” “Consume” means to be finished, to be ended, to be depleted; to perish (we might say – to lose your God-given hope and vision); to completely destroy; to cause to cease. However, “tamam” in the good sense means to be completed, to be innocent, to be blameless, to be whole, to be perfect; to be entirely complete in accord with truth and fact. In other words, your spirit and the Holy Spirit rule your life. You walk in the Spirit! This is the prevailing work of God’s mercies in our lives and all that concerns us! His mercies will consume all our works of the flesh if we will let Him! You know, Satan is completely deceived and absolutely cannot understand what his storms can accomplish in God’s faithful and true people. When storms come, the devil wants us to think we have made a complete mess of things. Truth causes us to think the opposite. Truth IS the difference! Is it any wonder James could declare and command, “Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort, or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed (with no defects), lacking in nothing” James 1:2-4 The Amplified Bible
Fourthly, truly and of a certainty, these are the days of HIS glory! God is to be seen working so mightily in us and on our behalf, people will be moved to give thanks and praise to God! “And they glorified God in me” (Galatians 1:24). May the cry of our hearts and lips to God be that of the weeping prophet Jeremiah who could appeal to God for divine help, and hold out hope because of God’s great mercy. “Turn us to Yourself, O Lord, and we shall be turned and restored! Renew our days as of old!” (Lamentations 5:21 The Amplified Bible). May this be our continued earnest prayer for our nation, the Church of America, and our family. And may you of other nations do likewise.
“I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me…. Then I thought, ‘To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most High.’ Yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. With your mighty arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you and writhed; the very depths were convulsed. The clouds poured down water, the skies resounded with thunder; your arrows flashed back and forth. Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind, your lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked. Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron…. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever”
Psalms 77:1, 10-20; 107:1 The New International Version
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