Test Everything

Two weeks ago I took a 24 hour trip back to the states to meet up with a guy who is moving his family here from Florida. We had originally met this man and his wife back in November, 2010 when they came down for an exploratory visit to check out the city. We will call them Tim and Lori (not their real names). Tim had grown up in the Philippines. His dad was with the U.S. Air Force and his mom is Filipino. Tim and Lori have been wanting to experience living outside the U.S. for a number of years now and have been doing their due diligence.

I had originally made contact with them through an expat blog on the internet for all non-Mexican residents here in the Yucatan. When they came down in November I met them for coffee at Starbucks and answered many of their questions on what it was like to live in Merida. Because they have two small kids (7 and 4) and because I wanted to show them that it is possible to live here as a family, I invited them over for dinner to our home the next night. Things went as planned and as we hosted them in our home the next evening I felt led to offer to drive down with Tim if/when they decided to move down here.

About 3 months ago Tim called me and took me up on my offer. He paid for my plane ticket and flew me up to meet him in Houston on his drive from Florida. His mom was with him and we all stopped for lunch before dropping her off at the Greyhound bus station so she could get back to Orlando. While at lunch I noticed his mom was praying over her food. Later I asked her about her faith and she told me she was a Christian. She was very nervous for the safety of her son on this trip and I felt the Lord had placed me with Tim to help him on his journey. So we later dropped his mom off at the bus station and then headed for Corpus Christi, TX were we spent the night before our border crossing in Brownsville/Matamoris on Saturday morning. All was going as planned.

We got to the main crossing the next day and got his paperwork done. I noticed when we were at the border crossing checkpoint that there were more police and soldiers stationed there than when I had crossed the year before. I asked someone why and they explained to me there had been a gun battle at that exact location the day before. Consequently, they had a soldier positioned on top of his military Humvee with a loaded 50 Caliber machine gun pointed directly at cars as they came into the area. The Humvee was positioned amongst a small detachment of soldiers on foot. So we moved through the border crossing and headed for Tampico. That was our first destination on our first day of driving.

We made really good timing our first day inside Mexico and arrived in Tampico about 4:30 PM. We checked into a nice Holiday Inn on the northern outskirt of the city and got settled in. We got cleaned up and headed out for dinner and this was where things got extremely interesting. As we were driving down the main avenue through the heart of the city heading to TGIFridays we came upon a military convoy that was blocking off the street for about two blocks ahead of us. I immediately noticed that all of the soldiers had black masks on like what you see on T.V. when the media covers the Narco-Drug War events.

As we are looking at all of this Tim wanted to press on and find our way to the restaurant. He asked me to help him navigate a detour around this situation in front of us. I told him I didn't feel comfortable doing so as I did not know my way around Tampico except for the road we were on. This main artery of a highway would lead us into, through and out of the city with everything we needed (ATM's, Gas stations, hotels, restaurants). I told him I didn't feel comfortable venturing out like this, especially with his vehicle full of all of his possessions. He had his truck packed from top to bottom in the back seats and in the bed of the truck.

As I am processing this situation I felt a check about what we were doing. When I saw the roadblock I immediately felt the Lord was trying to send us back to the hotel. But Tim kept wanting to press on so I gave in and tried to accommodate him. I told him to take a right at the road block, drive about three blocks west, take a southerly road through a neighborhood, and loop back east to get back on the main highway on the other side of the road block. This was a big mistake. As we came out on the other side of the road block like we intended to we found ourselves looking at this....

And the guy with gun has it pointing right at us. You see, there had been a shooting on the main highway in Tampico right about the time we were taking showers in the hotel. And when we left the hotel and headed to go to eat we found ourselves driving up on the crime scene about a block down the road from us completely out of view from our vehicle. We didn't know exactly what was going on at the time. And when we drove through an adjoining neighborhood around the roadblock and came out on the other side we found ourselves driving right into a roaming detachment of Mexican soldiers that were doing block by block sweeps of the area looking for the gunmen. And when they saw us they pulled us over and asked for I.D. Well, Tim decided to leave his visa and passport in the hotel. Big Mistake. Huge Mistake.

First of all, Tim speaks absolutely no Spanish. Right now, I speak some conversational Spanish in the present tense. I can get buy and understand about 30 or 40% of what I hear but speaking it fluently takes time. The soldier in charge of his detachment makes us get out of the vehicle, he puts both of us on the hood with feet spread apart and they search both of us and the vehicle for weapons. Then, because Tim doesn't speak Spanish, the Mexican seargant proceeds to come around to me and interrogate me. I in turn offered to leave myself with him and let Tim return to the hotel and let him get his paperwork. He sat there and chewed me out in Spanish for about 60 seconds or so and then let us go.

So we get back in the truck and what does Tim want to do?.....He wants to keep heading to the restaurant. I was taken back a little. I told him we had better get back to the hotel ASAP and get his papers, that if they found us out again in an hour or so without I.D. we could end up in a military-style Mexican interroggation some where in an undisclosed location and when he got his vehicle back it could be stripped of all his possessions.

I finally talked him into going to the hotel. When we got back, as we were pulling into the parking lot at the Holiday Inn, I heard police sirens right behind us. I looked at Tim and told him that right now the city was tense and that we needed to stay at the hotel. I could tell he got frustrated with me. I explained to him that again, this ain't the good 'ol U.S. of A and that we were in a country that is in a perpetual state of martial law.

The rest of the trip took an additional two days of driving. We were back home within 48 hours. The rest of the drive and the trip was very smooth, mostly in part to God's grace and his parents and my family praying for us. You see, Tim's parent's are Christians. And I think the reason the Lord had me driving with him was to help him along the way. On the drive we told each other about our lives and I witnessed to him about the power of God and about relationship with the Lord. But when I got back home and practically kissed the ground in Merida, I had a flood of memories come back through my mind and along with them some emotions. Let me explain.

It has been my spiritual observation over the years that most people will lead you astray if you let them. They just will. And this applies to both believers and non-believers alike. Christians and non-Christians. Much of the advice, counsel, teaching and prophesy that comes to us from others is not coming from God. Not all of it, but alot of it. There are many forms of godliness out there with no real power in the Lord to validate it (2 Timothy 3:5).

"There is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death." Prov 16:25

The next morning after I had gotten back to Merida and got a good nights sleep, I came down stairs and sat down on the couch with a cup of coffee and started to pray and meditate. And as I did I found my mind flooding with scriptures and memories of times past when others, even Christians, tried to counself me to make decisions that ultimately weren't centered in God's will for me. And as I remembered these things in light of what happened to me in Tampico I started to get angry. I came to the realization that there have been so many key points in my life, so many key points in my walk with the Lord where other Christians have given me counsel and words of prophesy that, if I had listened to them, I would have gotten off course, missed God's will for my life and/or my family, and found myself in harm's way staring down the barrel of the proverbial 50 Caliber machine-gun (see picture above).

When I first came to the Lord my own mother called me a "religous-fanatic" and threatened to write me out of the will because of my Faith in Christ (Bad Counsel). When I first received the baptism of the Holy Spirit I was counseled by one of the ministry heads in our church that I needed to stop witnessing about my experience because I was sowing division amongst bretheren (Bad Counsel). After I received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit I was counseled to get back under the law and honor the literal Sabath by a very well known Christian archaelogist/Senvth Day Adventist (Bad Counsel and Teaching). Many many years ago I was counseled by at least a half a dozen Christians, all of whom I still love to this day, many of whom I still have a great deal of respect for, to pursue a relationship with a particular young woman in Midland even though the Lord had counseled me otherwise (Bad Counsel). I was counseled to not leave my job in 2001 even though the Lord spoke to me several times to do so. Christine and I were counseled to not have more kids after we lost Elizabeth and had two more miscarriages. We later had Joel.

"Test Everything. Hold onto the good. Avoid every kind of evil." 1 Thess 5:21,22

Test everything Brethren. Everything. Every piece of advice you get, every prophecy you hear, every doctrine that is presented to you. Test it all. Every offer, every invite, every request. Go to the Lord and speak with him about everything. Everything. The enemy is working diligently to derail us. Test everything you receive from everyone. Test it all. Don't buy into it until the Lord says "Yes, it's me" and confirms it.  

"Let everything be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses." 2 Cor 13:1

Let the Lord confirm it all, first with his peace within your heart, and if necessary, from outside signs and sources that he raises up.

"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously  to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." James 1:5

"For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.... For wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul." Proverbs 2:6,10

"The wisdom that comes from from heaven is first of all pure, then peace loving..." James 1:17

If we will be willing to test everything, every piece of counsel, every prophecy and doctrine, the Lord will generously give us wisdom, understanding (Plans and Strategies) and knowledge. These three things will come directly from his mouth, enter our hearts, and bring peace to our souls.

"I speak the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart." Romans 9:1,2

Our consciences confirm the wisdom, understanding and knowledge that the Lord puts in our hearts. The conscience is the voice of the heart. Pray, talk to the Lord and listen to your conscience. Listen to the voice of your heart. When I first saw that roadblock in Tampico the Lord immediately spoke to my conscience to turn around and go back to the hotel and I did not listen. I went along with the carnal non-believer and almost wound up in jail for nothing.

This is the picture I get in my mind. See the football player pictured left? The running back that is clutching the ball is you and me. It's the Christian making his way through this world trying to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil. The ball that we clutch is our calling and our faith. The ball represents everything that God is telling us to do on a daily basis. It's the fullness of faith in our lives. Everything that God speaks to us is represented by that football. The enemy is #47. He is trying to take us down and strip the football. He wants to disrupt our momentum.

We have two responsibilities before the Lord. Protect the football (the faith) and resist the enemy.

"Resist him (the devil), standing firm in the faith." 1 Peter 5:9

Test everything. Pray about everything. Hold onto the good. Avoid every kind of evil. Protect the football brethren. Get violent and contend for the faith.

"Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life." Proverbs 4:23

Be Blessed,
J.E. Blackshear
www.miraclesinmerida.blogspot.com.

Three Small Waves

I once heard Henry Gruver tell a story about the German Christians in Berlin during WWII. Apparently many Christians in that city had been trapped within German borders with no way out. As the war progressed and the momentum swung away from the Axis nations towards the Allies, the Lord, according to the story, began to speak via the prophets to the underground church in Berlin. The following is an intertwining of historical facts about WWII along with the story that was confirmed by two German Christian men who had fled Berlin during the allied firebombings of the city prior to the end of the war.

According to historical records, at the beginning of World War II (1939) the United Kingdom had an official policy of conducting aerial bombings strictly on military targets inside Germany. This policy was quickly abandoned by England on May 14, 1940. That was the day Germany bombed Rotterdam, Holland killing 900 civilians and leaving an estimated 80,000 homeless. England's policy of bombing only targets of direct military significance was gradually abandoned in favour of "area bombing" - large-scale bombing of German cities to destroy housing and civilian infrastructure. Although killing German civilians was never an explicit policy, it was obvious that area bombing would lead to large-scale civilian casualties.

From 1939-1941 British Bombers had a hard time being effective over Berlin because of the cities distance from London (590 miles). During 1942 new British bombers with longer ranges were coming into service. However, during that year the British Bomber Command's priority was attacking German U-boat ports as part of Britain's efforts to win the Battle of the Atlantic. During the whole of 1942 there were only nine air alerts in Berlin, none of them serious. It wasn't until late in 1943 that this changed.


Part of Berlin after Allied Firebombings during WWII.

On November 18, 1943 the infamous Battle of Berlin was launched at the German capital by the newly appointed head of RAF Bomber Command, Sir Arthur Harris. Over the next 4 weeks the RAF conducted bombing raids in Berlin that rendered at least 25% of Berlin uninhabitable. These raids continued through March of 1944 thereby killing or injuring thousands of German civilians, mostly women and children, and leaving an estimated 450,000 homeless. Yet somewhere interspersed among all of this the Lord was trying to deliver the German church out from the destructive effects of this chaos. 

As I heard Henry tell the story, sometime during all of this the Lord gave German Christians three chances to escape the ill effects of this devastation and loss. At one point the Lord spoke to the church via the prophets and told the Christians to sell everything they had and move out of the city. Apparently some listened to this instruction and some did not. Some time later, and I am not sure as to the exact time frame, the Lord spoke again via the prophets. Only this time, per Henry, the words were different. This time the words were sell everything you can and get out. Again, some headed the words while others did not.

While the British had been conducting their "Battle over Berlin" campaign starting in 1943, the U.S. Army had been preparing for the next phase of the war by cooperating with Berlin architect Erich Mendelsohn. Throughout 1943 Mendelsohn collaborated with the U.S. Army and the Standard Oil company in order to build "German Village", a set of replicas of typical German working class housing estates, which would be of key importance in acquiring the know-how and experience necessary to carry out the joint effort of firebombing Berlin.

Sometime during that final campaign of allied firebombings over Germany from March 1944 to April 1945, the Lord spoke to the church one last time in regards to leaving the city. This time, as Henry told the story, the Lord told all believers to exit the city of Berlin immediately with their hands emptied of all physical possessions. They were to carry nothing in their hands. The story, per Henry, was later confirmed by two Christian men years later. Both of them had heeded the word of the Lord and had exited the city, one from the east and one from the west. Apparently, as people were leaving, the allied firebombings that started immediately in the city areas behind them started generating what we know today as firestorms.


Air movement in a mesocyclone.

A firestorm, simply put, is a an environment where objects like buildings and trees are burning so far out of control that it creates and sustains its own wind system that blows air inward towards the fires. These powerful horizontal columns of air are known as mesocyclones. As mesocyclones develop moving in the direction of the firebombing they literally take with them every object that is not securely fastened down to the ground. This means all unsecured objects move in the direction of the mesocyclone and go right into the firestorm itself.

When considering this and the specific prophetic instructions that the German Christians received during their last warning, it is easy to see why the Lord sent them out empty-handed. Per the two German witnesses that Henry referred to in his testimony, both men had to hold onto secured physical objects on the ground as they were exiting the city to keep from being sucked back into the fires themselves. Had they disobeyed the Lord and sought to carry things in their hands they would have been killed.

In the story I see the Lord give believers three chances to come out, but each time they came out a little less blessed. The first time they came out having had the opportunity to sell all their possessions. The second time those that had not heeded before had another chance to come out with only the provision from what they "could sell." The third wave of people came out empty handed having just escaped death. We see this three-wave principle at work in the last chapter of Jeremiah.

"So Judah went into captivity, away from her land. This is the number of people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; in Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem; in his twenty-third year, 745 Jews taken into exile by Nebuzaradan the commander of the imperial guard. There were 4,600 people in all." Jeremiah 52: 28-30

The last recorded census of fighting men in Judah is found in 2 Chronicles 26:13. There were 307,500 fighting men counted in the census, ages 20 to 40. If you count their immediate and extended families, it is safe to assume there were at least 2 million to 3 million Jews dwelling in Judah, Benjamin and Jerusalem in the days of the last 5 kings of Judah. On the low end at 2 million, to have only 4,600 people go into exile means only .23% of your population made it out alive as God began to judge the southern tribes. That is less than one-quarter of one percent of your entire population that's listening to the Lord in the day of judgment.

"But small is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to eternal life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:14

"...God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the Ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved..." 1 Peter 3:20

It seems that when God is trying to save people from judgment, not alot of people really want to respond for some reason. In Judah you have roughly one-quarter of 1% that was willing to respond to God. Not a very big crowd. And many came out only with the clothes on their backs. And they also came out in three waves, just like the Christians in Berlin.

Last Saturday I was talking with a good friend on the phone telling him that I believed I was supposed to write this post. As we discussed it I realized something for the first time: The first wave has already come out in America today. Let me explain.

Back in the middle 90's some of the prophetic ministries that I referred to in Spoudaza and Qara were very active. The Lord was opening alot of doors for the first three prophets I referred to in that post. From 1995-1997 I had the privilege of being apart of many meetings and local communities of believers within many cities throughout North Texas, West Texas, New Mexico and southern Colorado. As I traveled, fellowshipped and occasionally ministered in that time it was very evident to me and those around me that there was a great stirring among God's people with regards to the cumulative message we have been covering this month. Symbolically speaking, I believe this was when the first wave of people came out of Berlin, out of Judah and Jerusalem.

By "coming out" I mean there was a consistent wave of people that heeded the call of God on a very deep level and started preparing their hearts for what is coming on the earth. Fasting, praying, obeying, physically preparing if shown to....Those people started building an ark years ago. The majority of people that were going to heed the call of God in this hour to prepare spiritually and physically for the judgment that is going to be poured out on America and subsequently the world has already happened.

Four-thousand, six hundred Jews listened to God in the days of of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. And of those that did, 3,023 came out in the first wave. That is 65.71% or two-thirds. Today, I see very few people responding to God and his message of judgment. Very few. Most scoff. Most laugh. Most dismiss. A few are still wresting trying to decide if any of this makes sense. And it baffles me as to why. All I need is to read Leviticus 18 and 2 Kings 24, look at the stats on abortion, pornography and STD's, listen to the prophetic confirmation and I have all I need to believe.

So my conclusion is, if Christians are not getting the message then it has to be because of one of two things. Either their hearts are re-hardened because they have turned their backs on God like a dog going back to it's vomit or....they can't seem to get free of the worries of life and the deceitfulness of wealth and get on with obeying God by going from faith to faith (Romans 1:17). They refuse to go from hearing one thing from God to another and guarding his words as the apple of their eye (Proverbs 7:2).

"The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful." Matthew 13:20-22

Either way they can't get unhooked from the false American dream of physical comfort and material prosperity and embrace the cross. They can't because they don't want it. It has to be one or the other. Either way it's a heart condition. It's a heart problem.

"They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts." Ephesians 4:18

People, even Christians, can harden their hearts and it leads to darkness in their understanding and they become separated from the life of God. That is another way of saying they are separated from God's will for their lives.

In November, 2006 the Lord gave me a dream that he would bring me and my family into a season of preparation to move to Mexico. A year and a half later the Lord moved us to San Antonio, TX. Then after 2 years there we felt the time had come for us to make the move here. We did not move here to escape from anything. We moved here because we felt this was what we were told to do. As the time drew closer for us to sell off everything in the Spring of 2010 we had to start making decisions on what we were going to keep, what we could take with us, what would be better to sell and repurchase based on cost and what was and was not practical.

During all of this Christine called me on the phone one day while I was at work. We were discussing whether we should make the drive down to Merida with our desktop computer in the truck along with some other possessions. It was May 27th, 2010. As I was standing in the receiving department having this phone conversation with her I found myself looking up at a shipping box in front of me with the word Berlin written on the front. I "noticed" it as we might say. In response I said to her, "I think we need to sell it if we can and get going." Later in the day I was driving through town and I looked up and noticed I was passing "Berlin Street" in south San Antonio. About an hour after that I found myself standing in a convenience store listening to a radio station playing over the loud speakers inside the store. The radio station kept blowing what sounded like "air raid" sirens, like the kind you would hear in the movies when cities were being bombed. "Berlin, Berlin, air raid sirens." That was what I was hearing and seeing that day.

I'm not making any of this up. It actually happened. Take it like you will. I think the Lord was speaking. For some it is time to move on. For us that was the case. I hope this post comes across the right way. I am not saying you have to leave America to be in God's will. We pray about everything. I am just saying we need to be asking the right questions right now. And we need to keep asking until we get a confirmed answer.

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better." Eph 1:17

Keep asking the Lord for wisdom and revelation in this time so that you may know him better, so that you may know his will for you and your family. This is the hour of judgment for America. Now is the time to know, to know his will.

Be Blessed,

JEB
www.miraclesinmerida.blogspot.com

Knowledge

The Lord speaks directional wisdom to his people. His sends us down a clear path from season to season. This path leads us to works that we are called to do. Ephesians 2:10 is clear about his. We are created in Christ to do good works which have been prepared in advance for us to do. We are called to work in him. Jesus and the Father work in us and among us to this very day.

"Jesus said to them, 'My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.'" John 5:17

"Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it." Mark 16:20

The Father works. Jesus works. We work. We work with the Lord as we go forth in his wisdom. Wisdom is clear direction. And that clear direction is accompanied by plans and strategies. In the last post we talked about Proverbs 8:12 in great detail.

"I wisdom dwell together with prudence; I posses knowledge and discretion." Prov 8:12

We took a good hard look at three of the four. Now we need to do a deep-dive into knowledge. As the Lord gives us clear direction with plans and strategies, as we are receiving wisdom and understanding from the Lord, there are certain bits of spiritual knowledge that need to accompany us along the way. These are things that will keep us steadfast in the work that the Lord has commanded us to do on his behalf. Knowledge blends in with clear direction with plans and strategies. It blends in and holds the other three steady.

One day in September of 2001 I was driving northbound on Hwy 820 in west Ft. Worth while taking our oldest son Kevin to school. I was passing Troy Aikman Ford right at the corner of Camp Bowie (Hwy 80) and Hwy 820 when all of the sudden, just as clear as day, I heard the Lord speak to me about various facets of this thing called "Knowledge."  There are pieces of knowledge that accompany us as we go forward in warfare. There are things that need to be developed within our minds that keep us steady and stable in the fight. We are going to need to know, believe and abide in certain things if we are going to hold fast in Wisdom and Understanding on a continual basis.  The following is my list of 8 pieces of spiritual knowledge. The first six I heard on that day in September, 2001. The last two have been added to the list since that day. The following is what I heard.

1) The time is short. We are a mist. Number your days.

"What I mean brothers is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in it's present form is passing away." 1 Corinthians 7:29-31

"Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'" James 4:13-15

"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12

2) Be Prepared. Make the most of every Opportunity. Be dressed, ready for service, and keep your lamps burning.

"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." 1 Peter 3:15

"Make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." Colossians 4:5,6

"Be dressed, ready for service and keep your lamps burning." Luke 12:35

3) Be Quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.

My dear brothers, take not of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." James 1:19

4) Do not worry beforehand about what to say.

"But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." Matthew 10:19,20

"...the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it." John 12:49

5) Arm yourself with an attitude of suffering.

"Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God." 1 Peter 4:1,2

6) Trust in God's Financial Provision. It is Constant.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds...." Matthew 6:25-34

"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:8

"Be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" Hebrews 13:5

"Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, ....Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years." Deut 8:2,4

"Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, ...." Psalm 23:6

"He will be our guide even unto death." Psalm 48:14

"You will guide me with your wisdom and counsel and afterwards receive me into the glories of heaven."  Psalm 73:24

"Trust in the Lord forever." Isaiah 26:4

7) Don't Complain. God works in all things for our good. Give thanks in all circumstances.

"Do everything without complaining or arguing,..." Philippians 2:14

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

"Give thanks in all circumstances..." 1 Thess 5:18

8) God will vindicate us.

"Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord." Romans 12:19


We could sit down over coffee and tea and talk of these things for hours.  But the scriptures that are quoted speak for themselves.

Brethren, time is short and we need to make use of the bit of time God has given us. We need to be wholeheartedly focused on hearing him and entering into his work. The time is short. Work while it is still day. Night is coming when no man works. I just turned 40 years old. I remember when I was a 17 year old kid throwing my own mother a surprise party for her 40th birthday. And now I'm 40. Twenty-three years went by just like that. Amazing. We are a mist and then we are gone. Live for the Lord!!!

Be prepared....at a moment's notice. I remember when I was about 8 years old. I was at soccer practice one day and while playing I heard my name being called. I turned around to see who it was. It was my dad standing on the side of the practice field. He called me over to him and told me to come with him. I didn't know where we were going and was a bit taken back as I was right in the middle of practice. He took me and walked me to another field at the soccer complex where another team of boys was practicing. I looked around at them. They were all bigger than I was. My dad took me and put me on another team where all of the players were two years older than myself. I had already mastered my age group. I received an unexpected promotion of sorts. Be ready brethren because your name could get called and you could get promoted to a higher level. Be ready, dressed for service and keep your lamp burning. Be ready!!!

Listen first. Listen to the words of others and listen to the Lord. Talk to the Lord and ask for words to speak. The Lord will speak with power through us. But we must first listen. Many years ago I worked as a valet in front of a very high profile hotel in downtown Dallas. While there I had been witnessing to another  young man who wouldn't respond to my Christian witness. It really frustrated me at how hard-hearted this man was. One day while working we both happened to find ourselves standing outside the hotel while a very well-known "fallen" televangelist walked out of the hotel and got in his car. The young man looked at me and said, "See, it's guys like that that keep me from believing in God." Immediately God spoke through my mouth and said, "Yes, but you keep rooting for the Dallas Cowboys while many of their players are in trouble with the law." You would have thought I had punched him in the face. He was visibly disturbed for some time. God exposed his hypocrisy. Listen and pray first. Talk second. 

Arm yourself for trials. The path is narrow and few take it. As we walk in his direction with plans and strategies we are at times going to find ourselves in financial, physical and social trials. It comes with the territory. Arm yourself for it. All who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted the Lord of Glory they will persecute us. No man escapes this. No one.

In spite of what we go through, God provides. He never stops providing for us according to his riches and glory. Spiritual, mental, emotional and physical support and deliverance are ours. In spite of the pain there is healing and growth. Embrace his provision and trust in it. It never ends. He provided for the Israelites for 40 years in the desert. If he needed to do it for 50, 60, whatever...He could have done it. He hasn't changed. Still to this day he moves mountains, brings water from the dry rock and manna from Heaven. He will be our guide even unto death. He guides us with his wisdom and counsel and afterwards receives us unto glory. Trust in his provision. It is a constant thing!

Don't complain. God will cause things to work on our behalf. Give thanks knowing that this is true. Remember, we are sheep. Sheep need a shepherd. We have a shepherd that manages not only the intimate details of our lives but also how our lives work in conjunction with everything in this world. All things were created by Christ and for Christ. And in Christ all things hold together. (See Col 1:16,17). Everything exists and works for our benefit as we do his work to change the world. This is sometimes difficult to believe when the battle rages. Nevertheless, God's word holds true.

God has your back. He will vindicate the righteous. He will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. If you belong to Christ you are Abraham's seed and heirs of this promise (Gal 3:29). He has your back. God slays the wicked in due season. The Psalmist says that the righteous will be glad and rejoice when they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked (Psalm 58:10). "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood (Rev 6:9)? ...... The sins of some men trail behind them. Others go before them, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them. (1 Tim 5:24). God will avenge the righteous, both in this life and in the life to come. You can count on it.

We have more to discuss brethren but I think we are at a saturation point for today. A sponge can only hold so much water. I hope this helps you on your journey. Find God's wisdom, prudence and discretion for your day. And know these things along the way. Knowledge of these principles holds us steady in the high-calling of God.

In Christ,

JEB
http://www.miraclesinmerida.blogspot.com/.

God's Plans

I think one of the things that I struggled with the most in the early years of my walk was to believe that the Father had a day to day, season to season plan for my life. This was difficult for me to learn. It was at times hard for me to comprehend that God has a vested interest in my development. It was hard for me to believe that he wanted to speak with me about very specific things and be involved in the intimate details of my life. It has been a process for me. This is something that I have had to learn, sometimes with difficulty. But I can now testify, with satisfaction, that I understand that there is a plan. There is a plan.

Over the course of time, as we journey with the Lord, we should come to understand that God created us with very specific intentions. We are not just born by happenstance with the purpose of living a random existence. No. We are to live with a specific purpose. Each and every one of us. God creates men and women with a specific purpose in mind as to how he wants them to live out their lives. Consider the following scriptures.

"The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:4,5

"We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

We should learn that before we are even in our mother's womb, God knows us. We exist in his mind and thoughts even before we come forth into this world physically. We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for very specific works which are prepared in advance for each one of us. All of our lives, all of God's purpose for us, all of our steps are intended to be ordered of Him even before we begin to take on human form. All of our workmanship and all of God's purpose for us is set in order from eternity, even before time began.


With this in mind we can rest in the assurance that he has our lives planned out in context of the workings of all things. God foreknows us and God predestines us for a specific path with a specific purpose.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." Romans 8:28

"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,..." Ephesians 1:11

Our part in this is to choose that which God has chosen for us. Yes, we are predestined. But that path of predestination in Christ must be chosen by us if we are to see the will of God fully manifest in our lives. Let me say that again. We must choose the path that God predestined for us. And as we choose his path he wants us to learn that he is very strategic in his approach to us. The Lord is incredibly strategic. He is a master administrator. God by his very nature is a strategic administrator. This includes how he approaches every detail of our lives from day to day and season to season. Now with that in mind consider the following verse.

"I wisdom dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion." Proverbs 8:12

Consider this verse. Memorize it because we are going to come back to it alot today and I don't want to bore you with having to type it over and over again. Take a look at it again. Wisdom dwells with prudence and it possesses knowledge and discretion. Let's break it down.

In Proverbs chapters 2,3,4, and 8, wisdom is referred to as a way, a path or a direction. Read through all four chapters if you need to. Don't just take my word for it. Read it for yourself. Wisdom is a way, a path and a direction that Christ has for us in every situation. Now let's couple this with the meaning of the Greek word used for "wisdom" in James 1:5. Do you remember the verse?

"If any man lacks wisdom he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to him." James 1:5

The Greek word used for wisdom in this verse is Sophia. Sophia comes from the Greek word Saphes which means "clarity." So when we couple Proverbs 2,3,4, and 8 with James 1:5, what we can see is that when a man or woman asks for wisdom, what they are in essence asking for is clear direction from God. Wisdom, simply put, is clear direction from God. For you it may be asking for direction on your job situation, where to move to, or some situation where a simple "yes" or "no" is required. Wisdom is a clear way, a clear path, or clear direction that comes from God in a given situation.

And with that understanding we need to remember that Proverbs 8:12 says that Wisdom is accompanied by prudence, discretion and knowledge. When the Lord gives us that clear path, way, or direction he will always allow the other three to accompany it. So what is prudence? What is discretion? And what knowledge is the Lord talking about here? Let's take a look.

Prudence as spoken of in Proverbs 8:12 comes from the Hebrew word Ormah. Ormah comes from the Hebrew word Orem. The word Orem means strategy. So the word Prudence actually means strategy.

The word "Discretion" as mentioned in Proverbs 8:12 comes from the Hebrew word Mezzimah. The word Mezzimah means "plans." So the word "Discretion" actually means "plans."

So if we put Proverbs 8:12 into layman's terms what it really is saying is that clear direction from God always comes with a set of plans and strategies. God speaks to us about his will for our lives through clear direction with sets of plans and strategies.

Now this principle, this truth, is established all through the scriptures. Wisdom is talked about over and over again in both the old testament and the new testament. And quite often, when the word wisdom is mentioned, it is also coupled with either the word "understanding" and/or the word "prudence." I won't bore you with all of the details but know that the word "understanding" and the word "prudence" usually comes from the same root words in both Hebrew and Greek. In both languages they are synonyms of each other. Both words mean the same thing. With that in mind take a look at the following verses.

"Who endowed the heart with wisdom (clear direction) or gave understanding (plans and strategies) to the mind." Job 38:36

"Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom (clear direction). Though it cost all you have, get understanding (plans and strategies)." Proverbs 4:7

"Say to wisdom (clear direction) , "You are my sister," and call understanding (plans and strategies) your kinsman." Proverbs 7:4

"He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherishes understanding prospers." Proverbs 19:8

"Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding." Proverbs 23:23

"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him - The Spirit of wisdom and understanding....." Isaiah 11:1,2

"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding." Ephesians 1:8

"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding." Colossians 1:9

"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by words done in the humility that comes from wisdom." James 1:13

Do you see how the scriptures are replete with passage after passage that refers to God's voice unfolding in clear direction with plans and strategies? Their everywhere. The Lord has plans for his people. The Lord has plans and strategies for our lives that unfold for us as we move in clear direction, down a clear path. God is a God of direction with plans and strategies.

This is not complicated. It's simple. Yet human nature has a tendency to neglect fundamental truth. The Lord knows this. So in His sovereignty he reminds us of simple things over and over again. The Lord will teaches us simple things and then reminds us of them. He has always done this.

"So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you know have." 2 Peter 1:12

"Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard to you." Philippians 3:1

It's good that we allow the Lord to teach us all things and then remind us of them. That we are being reminded of things is a sign of ongoing discipleship in the Lord.

"But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." John 14:26

The Spirit teaches us about all things and then reminds us of them at a later point in time. Here, for us today, it is to understand and be reminded of the fact that the Lord has every intention of shepherding us through each day, in every detail if we will allow him to do so. We are his workmanship. We were created in Christ Jesus to do certain works. The works he has for us were planned in advance by him. And the way he communicates to us is through Wisdom and Understanding. Wisdom and Understanding is another way of saying direction with plans and strategies.

God speaks to our hearts. And when he does, he does so in direction with plans and strategies. Rest in this. God has a predestined plan. But it must be chosen. Choose it. Ask for it.

"If any man lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." James 1:5

"Pray to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things that you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3

In Christ,

JEB
www.miraclesinmerida.blogspot.com