*This was originally sent out to the mailing list on 7/31/07*

I just though I’d share this with you. It seems that sometimes there is just too much stuff to learn about God. So many ministries, so many books, and so many teachers – it almost gets to be confusing. (I will include myself in that group as well!) As a result, I wanted to share this reassuring message of simplicity with you. I hope it will help clear out the cobwebs and enable you to focus on the Lord.

The Tree of Wisdom

Good teachers will give you a cup of cold water, great teachers will lead you to the fountain. Good teachers will share the leaves and branches from the tree of wisdom, great teachers will give you its seed.

Beloved, is wisdom found in one cup? Is it contained in only one tree branch? Could you ever fill an ocean’s void with a drinking-glass? Could you ever transplant a great tree leaf by leaf? It is a strain. I am a great river flowing with knowledge. I am a good seed of wisdom. I am Jesus, your Lord and Savior.

Learn of Me. Know Me. Let Me be planted in you. Without My anointing, all will seem laborious and vain. I only am that good seed. You need not plant a multitude of seeds. I only will sprout up into a tree of wisdom. I will take care of all the leaves and branches, you need but My seed. In Me only is the hundred-fold increase that you desire.

Amen.

*This was originally sent out to the mailing list on 6/17/07*

I was reading in my bible today, and came across a few verses that ‘got the wheels turning,’ so to speak. The verses I came across were these:

“And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria… As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word. ” -Acts 8:1a, 3-4

After reading this, I couldn’t help but think of the believers in Jerusalem as seeds. They were scattered all over the land, and began to reproduce.

Now, a bit of a disclaimer here – I am no horticulturist. My thumbs are definitely not green! However, I thought of an instance that parallels God’s “seeds” mentioned in the passage in Acts above; but not only that, but it is a parallel for our own lives as well. What I am referring to is something called “seed scarification.” Again, I am not a scientist, so if any of you notice any factual errors on this, please let me know. I vaguely remembered reading about scarification a few years ago, but most of this information below was paraphrased from this site: https://wiki.umn.edu/twiki/bin/view/FR_3104_5104/ScarifiCation

In nature, some trees and plants bear seeds that have a hard coating that is impervious to water and gas. This hard seed coat prevents the seed from germinating until the coating is cut or softened in some way.

Here’s where it gets good…

Apparently, one such way of breaking this seed coat is for the seed itself, (possibly contained within a fruit), to actually to be eaten by an animal – and come out the other end. Inside the animal, the seed is subjected to the acids of the digestive tract, which softens the coating. Also, seeds can be scarified mechanically when passing through a bird’s gizzard. (And come to think of it, there will be some great fertilizer along with the seed when it comes out!)

All of this eventually (hopefully) breaks the seed’s dormancy, and the tree can reproduce. But not only that, but when the seed is eaten by an animal, especially a bird, it can then be “scattered abroad” just like the believers at Jerusalem were. Instead of falling straight down to the earth, the seed is able to travel much farther on legs or wings.

So, in the midst of trials or hardship or persecution, think of yourself as one of God’s seeds. Have you ever felt like someone or something has gobbled you up? It may be God working through these events to bring forth fruit – for His glory. (And notice that it was not GOD who persecuted His people, but rather that He allowed it for the furtherance of His own kingdom.)

If seeds could talk, what would they say when they are eaten up by an animal?

“NO! What will become of me!? “

“How will I ever become a tree in this place?”

“How could anything good ever come of this?”

I can’t explain it, but God can use bad situations for good things. He has His own reasons, and ways, and purposes – to bring you out of your dormancy, and bloom you into the work that He has destined for you to fulfill.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. ” -Isaiah 55:8-11

I hope that God gives you peace from this message. Whatever struggle that you may be facing, I hope that God brings you His peace. Amen.

*This was originally sent out to the mailing list on 6/2/07*

Treasure Hunt

“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
-2 Corinthians 4:16-18

I am the God of old, helping countless souls in times past. My work has largely been unseen to human eyes. My kingdom is not of this world.

A lost soul, a soul of a man, which is made in My image: this is a great treasure. Nothing else that I have made quite reflects My own glory as a human’s soul – and it is hidden from natural eyes. That which I am seeking, the place which I am working, the land where I am building My kingdom – is invisible.

Marvel not that you do not always see My hand in the physical. Do you not see the invisible work? Principalities and powers, spiritual wickedness: that which is both reviled and treasured cannot be now seen. There is more than a single act, or a mere gesture unfolding, but an on-going war.

Beloved, pray into this realm. It is heaven and hell set in array against one another. Do not think that it must always be the outward, seen things that must be affected. They are mere shadows. They can be telling of the true battle, but they are still yet shadows. Pray into this realm: the spiritual realm. Draw near to Me, and you will feel the urgency of the battle. One day, in heaven, you will know more fully what is truly called “reality.” You will know and see that it has been the things which were unseen, unheard, and untouched in the physical world that were eternal.

Oh please, pray, and be of a willing spirit, both for body and soul to do My work. I am on a treasure hunt. Do not fret at the visible things that bind a soul. Redemption, though physical by My blood and broken body, is reckoned by My Spirit. To remove physical barriers, and yet leave the spiritual, is to leave a soul in Satan’s spider-web.

Pray for that unseen touch. Pray for that eternal working that only I can bring. Look to the unseen land, fight with the unseen foe, and win the precious treasure that cannot be handled with earthly hands.

*This was originally sent out to the mailing list on 4/3/07*

I came across something that I had written so long ago, that I really had forgotten it. When I read it, it was quite fresh, and seemed to pertain to exactly how I am feeling right now.

I wrote the following message just over two years ago, on 3/5/05. It also mentions my very favorite verse in the whole Bible, Hebrews 11:12. Its called “The Impossible,” and I hope you can relate to the words, and I pray that you are strengthened by God through this message.

The Impossible

“[A]s the LORD liveth, …there is but a step between me and death.” -1 Samuel 20:3

How many of My people have said this? Or from how many nations, in how many times in history, has this fear been felt? And have I ever failed? Have I but failed once? I have reproved kings for My people’s sake, saying, “Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm” (Psalm 105:15).

My will is unalterable. My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure. Have I not said that your very hairs are all numbered? Not one raindrop falls, nor one blade of grass sprouts, without My knowledge.

I specialize in impossibilities. The impossible: it is here that I delight to work. With David – who was but a step from death – it was impossible for him to overcome his adversaries alone. It was impossible for Noah to survive the coming flood. It was impossible for Sarah’s barren womb to conceive a child. It was impossible for Joseph to arise from his prison. It was impossible for the children of Israel to break free from Egypt’s bondage.

My power is shown in impossibilities. My strength is made perfect in weakness. Why should I do something that you can do yourself? Would you not say in your heart that your own wisdom, and your own strength have brought it to pass?

Take courage, My child, in due course, I am showing you My power and love.

What is impossible? What is there that you simply cannot do? What difficulty is unconquerable? It is there that I will meet you. It is there that I will manifest Myself most vividly to you.

Beloved, think on your impossibles. Do you think that these things have happened for nothing? Have I allowed such things to arise for no reason? The mothers of Israel were all barren. Sarah was barren (Genesis 11:30). Rebekah was barren (Genesis 25:21). Rachel was barren (Genesis 29:31). And it was done to the end that they might know assuredly that My hand was with them.

It is out of this barrenness, out of this impossibility, that I work My most amazing wonders. If you could plant a beautiful vineyard – fruitful and beautiful – anywhere in the earth, where would you plant it to show its splendor the best? Would you chose an already fertile field, where one might account the land for giving such blessing? Or would you chose a desert, a place of impossibility? It is from the dead and dry grains of sand that My miraculous life springs.

“Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.” -Hebrews 11:11-12

When I chose Abraham, and made Israel a people for myself, I chose him because he was the least of all people. And when you have weakness, and struggle – beloved, know certainly that in this dry desert I intend to plant a special seed. Remember, I have chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty. My weakness is stronger than man’s might.

Rather, beware when your path is smooth, and your way easy. Beware when all men speak well of you. Is not this as the way of the world? Is this not as that broad path that leads so many to destruction? You who live in your own strength: where is room for My power? You who dwell at ease: where is room for My Spirit’s comfort?

“Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.” -Luke 6:21

“To be patient is to have been made accustomed to failure.”

That is to say, one who is patient has learned that things will go wrong. But even so, a patient person does not stagger at adversity, but welcomes it, and perhaps, even expects it. As it is written in Romans 5:3: “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;”

It took me a long time to grasp this, and it is something that I am still learning. Inexplicable events, and inexplicable misfortunes have cast a great deal of doubt within my heart. And yet I am reminded of Joseph, and his struggles in slavery, and later in prison. And Job, and his seemingly inexplicable troubles, where he lost everything but his life. And lastly, Jesus, about whom it was written that God would smite the shepherd, and his sheep would scatter. His friends, and those that swore allegiance to Him, some even unto death, would soon leave Him; and not only flee, but deny Him.

And so, with this in mind, I encourage anyone going through similar struggles to cling to this verse:

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” -1 Peter 4:12-13

Have you ever noticed how some people seem to be athirst for God Himself, while others simply want to know about God? I really do believe that the more a true believer learns about God, being filled with the Holy Spirit, they will inevitably be drawn to not only learn about Him, but to meet with Him and commune with Him as well.

Would you be content to simply read someone’s autobiography? Wouldn’t you, after reading, be filled with an increased desire to meet this person face to face?

It is along these lines that I’ve written this next message.

If a young child dresses himself as an adult, and acts and pretends as if he were an adult, shall he than be called a man?

You have been as a child. Though you dress yourself in the clothes of the aged, yet where is your true manhood? As a boy grows into a man, and develops certain desires, so too is it in spirit. Where is your desire toward Me? Where is your passion? Is not true maturity what I long for?

“And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” -Deuteronomy 6:5

You have been childish, and have tried to act as a spiritual adult – yet where is your true maturity? I have been as your childhood crush. Where is your passion? Surely such fraudulent love will not last. Where is your enduring love? Your indifference is a witness against you.

Why do you pretend? Why do you attempt to stir up within yourself that which you do not have? If you were grown into a man or woman of God, you would not need such artificial stirrings: your devotion would come naturally.  As rain from a heavy cloud, your love would most easily pour out. Why do you seek always to force your love through a watering fountain?

Is it not because you are carnal? Do not seek to mix that which is carnal with that which is spiritual. You must be born again, and likewise, you must be matured again; they are two entirely different lives. There can be no intermingling.

*This was originally sent out to the mailing list on 2/18/07*

Baby Steps

Beloved, you wish to progress in your walk; you wish to grow in spirit, in the knowledge of Me, and in good works. You wish many things, and in your stages of maturity, I have lead you at times in baby steps.

Setp by step. Here a little, there a little. Baby steps. But now you have grown, and baby steps are for babies!

Life ought to be taken step by step, but not baby steps. Dear one, I desire for you to make great strides for My kingdom. Your steps must grow to match My will. Baby steps will not always suffice – they are for babies. Would you not like for Me to say this of your life:

“He made great strides for My kingdom.”

Or would you have it:

“He took baby steps for My kingdom.”

You needn’t compass the world in a day, nor complete a long journey in a short time, but you must at least step out. And step out again. And again. Not baby steps the entire way, but growing in your dedication and sacrifice to Me.

I am looking to bless, and I am looking for those that will trust Me with the consecration of their feet.