God’s Word gives us many examples of people who went to God for help but David is a standout
David had just been anointed King over Israel and the Philistines heard of it and searched for him.
“So David inquired of the Lord, ‘Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?’ The Lord answered, ‘Go up for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.’ So David went and at Baal Perazim, there he defeated them. David exclaimed, ‘the Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.’ Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim (Master of Breakthroughs).” (2 Samuel 5:17-20)
The Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the valley of Rephaim (giants.) David enquired again of the Lord. This time the Lord said, ‘you shall not go up: circle round behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees advance quickly. For then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.’ And David did what the Lord commanded him, and drove back his enemies.
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There are times when we need a breakthrough from the Lord. The problem is beyond us, we need Him to act. Wisely David enquired of the Lord and very wisely he followed the Lord’s instructions and there was a breakthrough.
In itself, that breakthrough was a battle rather than the whole war, for the Philistines returned and threatened again. Very wisely David enquired again and did not repeat the previous strategy. This time the Lord’s plan was different. Again, following the word from the Lord, David had victory over his enemy.
When we need a breakthrough, for the problem is greater than us, we can enquire of the Lord. We can listen for His answer but note that it may need patience which is difficult when we are under threat. Yet scripture assures us that we will receive an answer –
‘Ask and it will be given to you…For everyone who asks, receives.’Matthew .7:7-8
The apostle Peter confirms that the breakthrough will come if we stand firm. He says ‘Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God…cast all your care on Him…be sober and vigilant… The devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Resist him and stand firm in the faith… Then after you have suffered a while the God of all grace will give you the breakthrough – He will perfect, establish, strengthen and settle you.’ (from 1 Peter 5:6-11)
Paul wrote to the Ephesians telling them to stand and when they had done everything to keep standing – always looking out for the sword of the Spirit – that specific word (rhema) from God, that specific instruction just like David received when he enquired of the Lord. Our breakthrough comes in the same way – ask, listen and obey the specific instruction, not relying on previous victories for God’s strategy is always right for every problem. Patience is needed!
Why is patience needed? Because patience is having its perfect work in us. Patience is abiding under pressure – enduring. So we keep standing and waiting for the breakthrough which will surely come at the right time.
This teaching by Torben will surprise many but it makes sense of what Jesus is warning us against in Matthew 24 when He said that many will come and say, “I am Christ,” and deceive many. As Torben points out, these are not people who dress up like Jesus, who look like Jesus, who are going around here on earth saying, “I am Jesus, follow me.” These people will not deceive many, because who wants to follow a person like that? We would think that they are insane or that they are very evil and full of demons, and not somebody we should listen to.
Because of the translation from Greek to English, we have misunderstood what Jesus is saying. Jesus is actually warning and saying that many will say, “I am anointed,” or, “I have a special anointing you don’t have so follow me,” and those people will actually deceive many. Why? Because in the New Covenant we are living in, the anointing we receive is the Holy Spirit, and every time people say you need a “special anointing,” they are saying the Holy Spirit isn’t enough, and they lift themselves up and make people depend on them, instead of letting people understand that when they got the Holy Spirit, they are now able to do what Christ has called them to do!
This teaching will be an eye-opener for many, and hopefully also set many free to go out and make disciples in the power of the Holy Spirit as Jesus has called us to do! Below, you will find some of the Scriptures Torben reads in this video. Read them for yourselves. Study them to see what the Word is saying! And do you know people out there who are following a “special anointing,” or following people who are preaching about a “special anointing?” Share this video with them, and let them also see the truth! Here is a link to the podcast Torben shared about in the video: WARNING! EXPOSING: FALSE IMPARTATION – FALSE ANOINTING – FALSE PROPHETS https://youtu.be/aVvIOji6vxY Here is a link to a teaching series where Torben has hours of teaching about the Holy Spirit – who He is, what He does, and how we receive the Holy Spirit: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0… And here is a link to Torben’s movies, where you can see that this life, full of the Holy Spirit, is for ALL of us, and how you can start to live it where you are: http://www.TLRmovie.com. Share this video with other people, and let’s come back to the simple truth we read about in the Bible!
“For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through insults and distress, and partly by becoming companions with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better and lasting possession. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.
For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not among those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith for the safekeeping of the soul.” Hebrews 10:30-39
In the present lukewarm, humanistic culture there could not be a stronger SHOUT from the Living God: REPENT or PERISH.
Once we have truly repented, we are then to preach this Eternal Truth – Repent or Perish to all those we come in contact with:
“Then He said to them,‘ Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that REPENTANCE and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.'” Luke 24: 46-47
How often do you hear this message preached in our pulpits? Sadly, not often if at all in many of the denominational churches.
In Acts 2, the apostle Peter explains that a new period in redemption (i.e. the beginning of the church age) occurs at Pentecost with the Spirit’s supernatural outpouring. But a lot of interpreters miss that Peter’s citation of Joel 2, and its celestial disturbances eventlinked to the great and magnificentDay of the Lord, gives us a clue to the completion of the church age.
Jesus confirms the same celestial signs in the Olivet discourse (Matt. 24, Mark 13, Luke 21) signaling His return to raise believers from the dead and to rapture the remaining Saints prior to pouring out His wrath on the unrepentant with the Trumpet (Rev. 8,11) and Bowl judgments (Rev.16).
Peter’s citation:
Joel 2:31
“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” Acts 2:17-21
Jesus Olivet Discourse:
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.“Matthew 24:29-31
Isaiah
Look, the LORD’s day of judgment is coming; it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger, destroying the earth and annihilating its sinners. Indeed the stars in the sky and their constellations no longer give out their light; the sun is darkened as soon as it rises, and the moon does not shine. I will punish the world for its evil, and wicked people for their sin. I will put an end to the pride of the insolent, I will bring down the arrogance of tyrants. I will make human beings more scarce than pure gold, and people more scarce than gold from Ophir. So I will shake the heavens, and the earth will shake loose from its foundation, because of the fury of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, in the day he vents his raging anger.” Isaiah 13:6–13
In Revelation 6 we see the same celestial signs linked to the sixth seal and the announcement that the great day of their (unrepentant) wrath has come.
“When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth… Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?””Revelation 6:12,16
It is at the trumpet blast of the seventh seal that the rapture occurs and John sees the Saints before the throne in their new bodies praising God the Father and Jesus.
“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”Revelation 7:9-10
Janet shares the very moving story of her own experience of being orphaned and alone, ending up with nothing, no one. How does a person with that experience of life come to a place where she freely gives her time, energy, and money to care for those who are neglected and abandoned? Filmed on location in the beautiful province of Malaita, Solomon Islands, and ending with a rich, local song of worship sung by 600 people, you will be blessed and challenged by Janet’s powerful story.
Please share it with your family and friends. It is titled “Who is Going to Give Me the love Mum & Dad should give Me.”
American Bible Society today released the third chapter of the 12th annual State of the Bible report, which highlights cultural trends in the U.S. regarding spirituality and Scripture engagement. Today’s release shows that Americans who consistently read and apply the Bible report greater levels of hope and resilience.
American Bible Society is in its twelfth year of conducting State of the Bible, asking American people their opinions and practices relating to the Bible.
“Our research continues to confirm that consistent Bible reading leads to hope and greater flourishing. Christians know that Jesus offers us full life; there’s no surprise here. But for those who are questioning their faith or even who need reassurance after a hard season, the data validates that applying the truths of Scripture leads to better health, better relationships, and a higher sense of purpose and meaning—all while bringing us closer to God,” said John Farquhar Plake, PhD and Director of Ministry Intelligence for American Bible Society. “To put it simply: the Bible’s message is not only spiritually transformative; it also transforms how we experience life on earth. There is restoration and healing in the Word of God, and we urgently need to point our hurting neighbors toward that life-changing truth.”
The State of the Bible 2022 findings come from a survey in January 2022 conducted by the American Bible Society in collaboration with NORC at the University of Chicago, which produced 2,598 online or telephone responses from American adults in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
This article is by Asher Intrater of the ministry Revive Israel. Asher is a Messianic Jew originally from the USA but now based in Israel.
For my prophetically gifted friends, may I mention three warnings:
Gospel First – if we are focusing on a socio-political issue MORE than the gospel of salvation in Yeshua, then we have missed the priority.
Universal Repentance – if we are calling for one side of an issue to repent, claiming that we are right and they are wrong, we have already missed the point. We are all wrong and need to repent ourselves; and call both sides to repent.
Rebellion/Stubbornness – heavenly wisdom is pure, peaceable, and easy to be reconciled (James 3:17). We are called at times to disobey governments when involving religious freedom and moral absolutes. But we are also called to submit to governing authorities.
There is a delicate balance here. Peter refused to obey the governing authorities in (Acts 4), yet told us to submit to all governing authorities in (I Peter 2). Paul spent much of his ministry in jail but told us that to resist the government is to resist God (Romans 13).
It is interesting to compare Revelation 13 and Romans 13. The first speaks of a worldwide government run by a demonic figure; the second speaks of government workers as ministers of God doing a divine service.
There are a variety of ministries and gifts in the body of Christ. They are called to work together in cooperation, thus complementing and balancing one another from extremist views.
“He … gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God…” Ephesians 4:11-13
There is safety in this teamwork. Prophetic ministries were designed to be overseen by someone with apostolic insight. A prophetically gifted person should be in a local community with pastoral oversight for their personal and family needs and also be submitted to a team with apostolic oversight for their ministry direction.
When prophets seek to operate outside this team model, they are more likely to be deceived. Some ‘prophets’ today believe they have received a word and run to social media to announce it. Many of them have no accountability at all. The New Covenant focuses on Ephesians 4 teams that work together.
Such cooperation helps prevent imbalance and rebellion. There are different structures and styles in which this teamwork can take place. I am not promoting one form or another. However, we need mutual submission to guard against extremism and deception during these times of intense conflict.
Throughout biblical history, the prophets spoke to the nation, sometimes in encouragement and sometimes in criticism. Today as well, we greatly need the gift of clear and balanced prophetic discernment in our midst.
Randy Alcorn lost his wife Nanci recently due to cancer. Obviously Nanci and Randy prayed for healing when they first learned the bad news. Fortunately, both learned a great deal about God through the experience and as a result, their trust and faith in God increased. Moreover, we are benefiting now from Randy sharing their story with us
Nanci Alcorn, wife to best-selling author Randy Alcorn has passed away on March 28th after a long batter with colon cancer.
On November 14, 2019, Nanci wrote the following in her journal:
Today I am thinking about “faith.” I have learned so much about faith.
What faith is not:
Trying to gather as much hope and “possibilities” in my own mind to reach a certain level.
Believing in that level of possibilities as hard as I can.
Presenting that package of my own hopes and dreams to God as my personal qualification to receive my hopes and dreams
God weighing the level of that package in order to determine the level of His answer to my prayers If I work up enough hope on my own, God will answer my prayers according to my wishes
What faith is:
A deep and continued study of the character and work of God Almighty
A deep and continued discipline of prayer—listening to the Holy Spirit—praying Scripture—seeking forgiveness—asking for enlightenment—praising Him for His character and works
Then, based upon the above, submit your requests to God Almighty—placing your well-grounded knowledge of His character and works into each request, always asking His will be done
Faith is being assured that God Almighty always acts according to His character and works. He never waivers. You can trust in God Almighty to always do the right thing. Nothing slips through His grid. God has everything planned, and all His plans will succeed.
The more I understand God’s character and works, the stronger my faith will be, and the more I want His will to be done knowing God does all things well.
The more I understand God’s: – Omniscience, Omnipotence, Grace, Mercy, Justice/Worth, Immanence, Immutability, Faithfulness, Love, Unity, Trinity, Holiness. The more my faith in Him will calm my soul.
Randy adds the following:
Some people hold tenaciously to a faith that their child will not die, that their cancer will disappear, and that their spouse will recover from a stroke. Do they have faith in God or is their faith in what they desperately want God to do?
If we base our faith on lack of affliction, our faith lives on the brink of extinction and will fall apart at any moment because of a frightening diagnosis or a shattering phone call. Token faith will not survive suffering, nor should it. Only when we jettison ungrounded and untrue faith can we replace it with valid faith in the true God—faith that can pass, and even find strength in, the most formidable of life’s tests.
God tells us that trials in which evil and suffering come upon us “have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:7). Paul Tournier wrote, “If healing through faith is striking, how much more so are spiritual victories without healing.”
Several years ago, before Nanci was diagnosed with cancer, I wrote this in a blog titled “If I Have Enough Faith, Will God Heal Me?”:
We should pray for ourselves and our suffering loved ones, not simply try to pray away suffering. ‘God, please heal this cancer‘ is appropriate. ‘God, please use for your glory this cancer, so long as I have it’ is equally appropriate.
Let me be clear: God can and sometimes does heal presently, and whenever He does we should celebrate His mercy! I have often prayed for healing and sometimes I have witnessed it, and it’s a wonderful thing to behold and celebrate. But ultimately, all healing in this world is temporary, since people’s bodies inevitably deteriorate and die (after Lazarus died and was risen in his mortal body, eventually he had to die again) Resurrection healing will be permanent. For that our hearts should overflow with praise to our gracious God.
Nanci and I have long known that prosperity theology, or the health and wealth gospel, is a deception, not the true gospel. So we did not even once cling to the “certainty” that God would heal her in this world under the Curse.
Nanci’s journals overflow with the promises of God, and many quotes from Spurgeon and the Puritans, people who died long ago (some of whom she probably already met—if there is a line for those waiting to meet Spurgeon, she’s probably in it having delightful conversations). Nanci never quoted from aging and dying prosperity preachers, who will all die of something and daily get closer to death even as they promise “It’s always God’s will to heal you,” typically adding “send us your prayer requests for healing, along with a love offering [money].”
Though we prayed for it every night for four years, we understood that healing was never a certainty, and also knowing full well that sometimes He chooses to heal and sometimes He doesn’t, and even when He does the healing is temporary, and death always comes. “For death is the destiny of every person, and the living should take this to heart” (Ecclesiastes 7:2). When doctors told us Nanci was going to die, she told me, “We always knew that, we just didn’t know when, and we still don’t.”
But of course, God promises the death of death. He will not let it die a natural death, He will decisively “swallow up death forever” (Isaiah 25:8). Death will not have the last word. God will.
Jesus said to Martha, mourning the death of her brother Lazarus, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).
Answering the question Jesus asked Martha, Nanci and I both said yes—we DO believe you, Jesus. We believe that even when we die, we will live, and in the sense of final death, we will never die at all. We will depart a cursed earth to live with Him in the present Heaven, from which He will one day bring our spirits down to join our bodies in resurrection, and we will then live forever on God’s New Earth.
Randy, God does not bring our spirits down to join our bodies in the resurrection. God raises the dead first and then raptures the living Saints and they meet Jesus in the air in their new bodies (changed in an instant). Later, they come down from heaven in their resurrected bodies to rule and reign with Jesus during His Millennial reign on this earth.
“For the Lord, himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
“For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.” 1 Corinthians 15:52-53
“The blood is still there. It’s still spread all over the floor.”
Joel Veldkamp, head of international communications at persecution watchdog Christian Solidarity International (CSI), shared these chilling words while discussing the vile attack on a Nigerian church Sunday that left at least 50 dead.
A police officer stands guard inside the St. Francis Catholic Church, a day after an attack that targeted worshipers in Owo, Nigeria, Monday, June 6, 2022. The gunmen who killed 50 people at a Catholic church in southwestern Nigeria opened fire on worshippers both inside and outside the building in a coordinated attack before escaping the scene
“It was Pentecost Sunday in Nigeria, so the church was full of people,” Veldkamp said. “According to one report, the gunmen snuck in disguised as worshippers. And then other gunmen arrived on motorcycles from the outside and started shooting from the outside, and then the ones who were already inside the congregation started shooting as well.”
The assailants then reportedly placed bombs on the altar and around the church before detonating them.
So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, though some reports ponder whether radical Islamic terror groups could be culpable. The location of the attack — in a southwest region of Nigeria — is one of the factors that adds to the “distressing and disturbing” details, as that area is typically peaceful and unaffected by the terror that has gripped portions of northern Nigeria.
“There are a lot of fears that this is going to open up a new chapter in anti-Christian terrorism in Nigeria,” Veldkamp said.
Renewed critique emerged last month after a Muslim mob reportedly fatally stoned Deborah Emmanuel Yakubu, a 25-year-old Christian college student of Shehu Shagari College of Education was beaten and burned to death in Sokoto Nigeria, Friday, May 13, 2022, by fellow Muslim students after she was accused of making a blasphemous social media post.
We are all familiar with the iconic ape-to-man image, which shows a smooth evolutionary progression from stooped ape to upright man. But what is the scientific evidence for the various transitional species in this evolutionary ‘march of progress’?
In this short video, you will find out. Contents: Introduction 00:34 Homo neanderthalensis (‘Neanderthal Man’) 01:01 Homo erectus 01:21 Australopithecus afarensis (e.g. ‘Lucy’) 02:02 Homo habilis 02:56 Summary.
LIVING ETERNAL NOW 