Monthly Archives: March 2016

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“Feelin’ faint….”

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for IN DUE SEASON we shall reap, IF we FAINT NOT ( do not LOSE HEART ). ” GALATIANS 6:9

  We hear that verse often but have you really thought about it? Well doing, trying to do good for the kingdom, weariness, tired and worn out. In due season ( God’s pre appointed time) WE WILL reap that good harvest. IF we faint not, that is strong wording that tells us that there will be times we feel like it is going nowhere and times that we do feel like giving up and times we feel we can’t  go on.

A perfect story for this can be found in  2 King 4:8-37, I will highlight the story but please, if you are feeling this, please read it.

A lady and her husband had befriended Elisha the Prophet and they would have him eat and rest at their home during his journeys. One day they decided to build a little spot for him so he could just stay there when he passed by. Elisha wanted to his appreciation and do something nice for her. So his servant suggested a child since she was barren and her husband was old, this would mean once he passed she would be completely alone.

We’ll pick it up at verses 15-20: “And he ( Elisha to his servant) said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door. And he said, about THIS SEASON, according to the time of life (about the same time next year) thou shalt embrace a son. And she said Nay, my lord, thou man of God, Do not lie unto thine handmaid. { It wasn’t that she did not believe him, it was that the news was so wonderful that she couldn’t believe what she was hearing, and wanted to know it was real and that he was serious}

And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life. And when the child was grown, IT FELL ON A DAY, that he WENT OUT TO HIS FATHER TO THE REAPERS. And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he (the father) said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and THEN DIED.”

So now the Mama having been almost afraid to believe for something so wonderful, has just watched her dream die. The child just old enough on the day “it fell” the time that had been slated for him to GO TO HIS FATHERS FIELD TO JOIN THE REAPERS IN BRINGING IN THE HARVEST and with an attack to “his head”, ( the symbolism there is this, the wars waged in our present day is often attacks of worry, fear, and dread) and now he is dead before he even began work in the harvest.

The story goes on, as the mother takes her son and places him in Elisha’s bed and closes the door, she then asks or a young man to be sent with her to go see the Prophet. When her husband asks what is the occasion, she simply replies “It shall be well”, meaning, everything is okay, it is well. Once Elisha sees her in the distance, he sends his servant to meet her with the question, “Is it well?” on all accounts. And again she answered the servant, “It is well”.

But once she gets to Elisha, she grabs his feet and he is very troubled because he knew nothing about this, because God had not revealed it to him. (Proof positive that  real Prophets ONLY know what God reveals to them and have no special insight they can control at will, a good thing to remember with “prophets” who supposed to have all the answers to everyone’s questions and are always eager to be asked) So then she tells him everything, complete with the sorrow of  her feeling that she had been given what she had not asked for only to have it taken away. So he sends his servant with his staff to place upon the son, with instructions not to speak to anyone for any reason, even if they spoke first. Don’t answer them back or respond at all.

So she told no one that her son had died, Elisha told his servant not to speak to anyone so it was between them and the Lord. When you have a bad situation already, the last thing you need is people making it worse and no matter how much faith you are trying to muster there are always those who will come by and give one thousand scenarios to confirm your worst fears. So the servant does as he was told, to no avail, so the child was not revived. Because whether he had Elisha’s staff or not, the anointing of God would have to be present to do the reviving.  

Picking back up at verse 32-37: “And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead and laid upon his bed. He went in therefore and shut the door upon them twain (just them) and PRAYED unto the Lord. And he went up and laid upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and he stretched himself upon the child, and the flesh of the child waxed (grew) warm. (transference).

Then he returned, and WALKED IN THE HOUSE TO AND FRO;  And went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, AND THE CHILD OPENED HIS EYES. 

And he called Gehazi ( his servant) and said, Call the Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.”

God will keep his promises and His harvest will be reaped. Even death has no dominion and can not stop the work or the call of God on lives and just as the symbolic truth to this story is this, that even sometimes before you even get started the forces of hell are there to prevent your work but it will come even if it has to be resurrected from the dead. Maybe you feel that way today, that dreams are lost, hopes are shattered, and all you had believed for is lying there lifeless. Don’t give up, don’t talk to doubters along the way, sometimes the less people know about our battles the better off we are.

Just as it was well, it was kept between her, Elisha, and the Lord. Remember HE NEVER FAILS.

Φλογίζω Σαλπιζω NB 2016

 

 

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“UNCOMMON”

“On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went upon the house to pray about the ninth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready (was preparing food) he fell into a trance.

And saw heaven opened, a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been ( looked like) a great sheet knit (bound) at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein (inside) were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.

And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have NEVER eaten any thing that is COMMON or unclean.

And THE VOICE SPAKE UNTO HIM THE SECOND TIME, WHAT GOD HATH CLEANSED, THAT CALL THOU NOT COMMON. This was done THRICE (THREE TIMES): and  the vessel was received up again into heaven.” Acts 10:10-16

Now this was Jesus giving Peter a little wake up call, because Peter had misunderstood the work of the Gospel and thought it was only to the Jews and he kept all the laws concerning whom he should socialize with and his thoughts toward them. but Jesus wanted him to be clear that what HE CLEANSED WAS FAR FROM COMMON.

Kinda funny when you think about it, here Jesus is telling Peter, eat this and Peter wants to argue about it, with his reply, “No, No, not going to happen BECAUSE I have NEVER eaten such things! We’re kinda like that sometimes aren’t we? God sees us, the us HE CREATED, HIS CHILD, and ALL THE POTENTIAL of our life and we’re like “Not so, Lord” BECAUSE I ……… and we give Him all of OUR reasons why we are just common, no good rotten sinners saved by grace who could never live up to His plan for our life.

Once Peter understood his mission to go pray for one, that he would have considered as such, he then understood the vision.

ACTS 10:28,29: ” And he (Peter) said unto them, YE KNOW that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation: BUT GOD HATH SHEWED (SHOWN) ME THAT I SHOULD NOT CALL ANY MAN COMMON OR UNCLEAN. Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying (objection), as soon as I was sent for…….”

 This can be a two-way street. Sometimes we can have the wrong opinion of others that God has cleansed and ones that he wants to cleanse. Sometimes we can forget that ALL HIS CHILDREN ARE CREATED EQUAL. A good point for this is when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus in the garden and Peter lopped off one of the soldiers ear and Jesus put it back on.

 Now Jesus did warn Peter that if you live by the sword, you must die by the sword, but one other note, even though the soldier was there to take Jesus he was still God’s child. And if you have two children and one is acting like a jerk you still do not want ANY OF YOUR CHILDREN HARMED whether they are being jerks at the moment or not, you still love them.

He feels the same way about us, all the saved and YES those who are not saved, all the messed up people who don’t know who they are in Him YET. And if we are not careful in how we treat them, they may never know. Back to us, sometimes our worst enemy is our self. God saves, heals us and we can’t get past the mind-set of who we were. We keep seeing, the sin, the mistakes, and failures THAT HE ALREADY did away with. We have an identity crisis in the worst possible way.

So today, if you are wrestling either with people who never want you to forget who you were ( stay away from them and don’t play it) or you are having trouble believing who YOU ARE in Him. I want to talk to you!  Please know that we can never change our past, do not let anyone beat you up over it because they have one too! But the main thing is to accept and really accept that it is gone, it is over and the person you were before Christ NO LONGER EXISTS. Please do not destroy your present and future with thoughts that are NOT OF GOD, He does not do that to us. That is the enemy that keeps reminding you, and every time it happens quote verses, here is a good one:

ISAIAH 43:18 “Remember ye not the former things, NOR consider the things of old.”

Study His word and in prayer learn who you are in Him. One of the biggest hindrances to the work God wants to do in these last days is the reluctance to just be who we are in Him. We often feel that we have to dress like this or that, or be more like this one or that one. But the truth is, HE CREATED US EXACTLY THE WAY HE WANTED US!

We are to never be anyone else and if they love God they will accept you for you! Because He does, and we are all different, we have different callings, different gifts and our personalities are created to help us achieve those things He has set before us. He actually refers to us as a special treasure, set apart, and different.

So please never think you are common, you are any thing but! You are actually quite uncommon, and that means rare and precious to HIM! God doesn’t deal in common, He deals in foreknown, predestined, and preordained, before the foundations of the earth!

So no matter how low, and insignificant  YOU may be FEELING, YOU ARE VERY SPECIAL TO HIM! AND DON’T  BE CALLING HIS TREASURE COMMON!!!!   Sending you Love and much peace in your coming week!

Φλογίζω Σαλπιζω  Rev. N. Brown Johnson 2016