To: MSB who wrote (13) | 1/26/2007 10:26:16 PM | From: Investor2 | | | I can testify that the Lord Jesus has made a huge difference in my life. He really turned it around. He has filled me with true joy that I never new I was missing until I experienced it.
He gave me unexplainable peace during a terrible time during my life. I guess that's what is called "the peace that passeth all understanding."
Best wishes,
I2 |
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To: MSB who wrote (14) | 3/6/2007 11:32:59 PM | From: MSB | | | I received this testimony from a brother in Christ quite some time ago, but forgot to make time to put it on the thread.
ABOUT ME (Vito Sawtell)
I accepted Christ young and was familiar with the Christian life. When I came of age and tasted the pleasures of the world I found you can not serve two masters. So - I left God and the Christian life behind me. I pretended it didn't exist. I didn't pay it any attention. I lived for myself. I lived the life of the prodigal son. God had His hands on my life tho I ignored Him. Even so there were times that I KNEW His hand was on me. A snowy dangerous drive home from Kansas City for example. I could just feel the hand of God on the top of my truck keeping me safe. God had His hook in me. I was not struck blind like Saul. God's hook was in me and He had the drag on real low. It took 20 plus years to land me - but He knew exactly how it would be. It was "The Prayer Of Jabez" book by Wilkinson that was in my nieces bathroom that tightened the drag and started me toward the boat. It may have been curiosity or maybe hunger for good or just selfish desire to be blessed, but I read that book and started praying that prayer. And I'll tell you - God is no slouch - if you pencil Him in the lineup, He will step up to the plate! God did bless me and reveal Himself to me. Thank God I am in the fold of Christ!
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Vito goes to the same church I attend. He also goes to the local nursing home to minister to those in the home prior to coming to church on Sunday. Vito's personality is a blessing to all those who know him. |
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From: Brumar89 | 5/5/2007 7:13:15 PM | | | | TOMMY THE ATHEIST'S TESTIMONY-- A TRUE TALE Father John Powell, a professor at Loyola University in Chicago writes about a student in his Theology of Faith class named Tommy:
"Some twelve years ago, I stood watching my university students file into the classroom for our first session in the Theology of Faith. That was the day I first saw Tommy. My eyes and my mind both blinked. He was combing his long flaxen hair, which hung six inches below his > shoulders. It was the first time I had ever seen a boy with hair that long. I guess it was just coming into fashion then. I know in my mind that it isn't what's on your head but what's in it that counts; but on that day I was unprepared and my emotions flipped. I immediately filed Tommy under "S" for strange...very strange.
"Tommy turned out to be the "atheist in residence" in my Theology of Faith course. He constantly objected to, smirked at, or whined about the possibility of an unconditionally loving Father/God. We lived with each other in relative peace for one semester, although I admit he was for me at times a serious pain in the back pew. When he came up at the end of the course to turn in his final exam, he asked in a cynical tone, "Do you think I'll ever find God?" I decided instantly on a little shock therapy. "No!" I said very emphatically. "Why not," he responded, "I thought that was the product you were pushing." I let him get five steps from the classroom door and then called out, "Tommy! I don't think you'll ever find Him, but I am absolutely certain that He will find you!" He shrugged a little and left my class and my life I felt slightly disappointed at the thought that he had missed my clever line "He will find you! " At least I thought it was clever.
"Later I heard that Tommy had graduated and I was duly grateful. Then a sad report came. I heard that Tommy had terminal cancer. Before I could search him out, he came to see me. When he walked into my office, his body was very badly wasted and the long hair had all fallen out as a result of chemotherapy. But his eyes were bright and his voice was firm, for the first time, I believe. "Tommy, I've thought about you so often I hear you are sick," I blurted out.
"Oh, yes, very sick. I have cancer in both lungs. It's a matter of weeks." "Can you talk about it, Tom?" I asked. "Sure, what would you like to know?" he replied. "What's it like to be only twenty-four and dying?" "Well, it could be worse." "Like what?" "Well, like being fifty and having no values or ideals, like being fifty and thinking that booze, seducing women, and making money are the real biggies' in life."
I began to look through my mental file cabinet under 'S' where I had filed Tommy as strange. (It seems as though everybody I try to reject by classification, God sends back into my life to educate me.)
"But what I really came to see you about," Tom said, "is something you said to me on the last day of class." (He remembered!) He continued, "I asked you if you thought I would ever find God and you said, 'No!' which surprised me. Then you said, 'But He will find you.' I thought about that a lot, even though my search for God was hardly intense at that time. (My clever line. He thought about that a lot!) "But when the doctors removed a lump from my groin and told me that it was malignant, that's when I got serious about locating God. And when the malignancy spread into my vital organs, I really began banging bloody fists against the bronze doors of heaven. But God did not come out.. In fact, nothing happened. Did you ever try anything for a long time with great effort and with no success? You get psychologically glutted, fed up with trying. And then you quit.
"Well, one day I woke up, and instead of throwing a few more futile appeals over that high brick wall to a God who may be or may not be there, I just quit. I decided that I didn't really care about God, about an after life, or anything like that. I decided to spend what time I had left doing something more profitable. I thought about you and your class and I remembered something else you had said: " The essential sadness is to go through life without loving. But it would be almost equally sad to go through life and leave this world without ever telling those you loved that you had loved them.'"
"So, I began with the hardest one, my Dad. He was reading the newspaper when I approached him. "Dad." "Yes, what?" he asked without lowering the newspaper. "Dad, I would like to talk with you." "Well, talk." "I mean . . It's really important". The newspaper came down three slow inches. "What is it?" "Dad, I love you I just wanted you to know that." Tom smiled at me and said it with obvious satisfaction, as though he felt a warm and secret joy flowing inside of him. "The newspaper fluttered to the floor. Then my father did two things I could never remember him ever doing before. He cried and he hugged me. We talked all night, even though he had to go to work the next morning. It felt so good to be close to my father, to see his tears, to feel his hug, to hear him say that he loved me. "
"It was easier with my mother and little brother. They cried with me, too, and we hugged each other, and started saying real nice things to each other. We shared the things we had been keeping secret for so many years. "I was only sorry about one thing --- that I had waited so long. Here I was, just beginning to open up to all the people I had actually been close to." "Then, one day I turned around and God was there. He didn't come to me when I pleaded with Him. I guess I was like an animal trainer holding out a hoop, 'C'mon, jump through. C'mon, I'll give You three days, three weeks.'
"Apparently God does things in His own way and at His own hour. But the important thing is that He was there. He found me! You were right. He found me even after I stopped looking for Him."
"Tommy," I practically gasped, "I think you are saying something very important and much more universal than you realize. To me, at least, you are saying that the surest way to find God is not to make Him a private possession, a problem solver, or an instant consolation in time of need, but rather by opening to love. You know, the Apostle John said that. He said: 'God is love, and anyone who lives in love is living with God and God is living in him.' Tom, could I ask you a favor? You know, when I had you in class you were a real pain. But (laughingly) you can make it all up to me now. Would you come into my present Theology of Faith course and tell them what you have just told me? If I told them the same thing it wouldn't be half as effective as if you were to tell it."
"Ooh I was ready for you, but I don't know if I'm ready for your class."
"Tom, think about it. If and when you are ready, give me a call."In a few days Tom called, said he was ready for the class, that he wanted to do that for God and for me. So we scheduled a date. However, he never made it. He had another appointment, far more important than the one with me and my class. Of course, his life was not really ended by his death, only changed. He made the great step from faith into vision. He found a life far more beautiful than the eye of man has ever seen or the ear of man has ever heard or the mind of man has ever imagined.
Before he died, we talked one last time. "I'm not going to make it to your class," he said.
"I know, Tom."
"Will you tell them for me? Will you tell the whole world for me?"
"I will, Tom. I'll tell them. I'll do my best"
So, to all of you who have been kind enough to read this simple story about God's love, thank you for listening. And to you, Tommy, somewhere in the sunlit, verdant hills of heaven --- I told them, Tommy as best I could.
If this story means anything to you, please pass it on to a friend or two. It is a true story and is not enhanced for publicity purposes.
With thanks,
Rev. John Powell, Professor Loyola University in Chicago
And for those who doubt this story --- it appears as truth - check the website below:
The story of Tommy, the atheist theology student who was found by God-Truth! <http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/j/johnpowell.htm POSTED BY BEN WITHERINGTON AT 7:39 PM benwitherington.blogspot.com |
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To: Sidney Reilly who wrote (18) | 12/28/2007 1:50:34 AM | From: MSB | | | Lean Not Unto Thine Own Understanding (Christmas '07)
Merry Christmas? One bad disk, or one's inability to understand basic technology finds me writing my Christmas letter the day after Christmas for '07. Oh, I had it written. But when I went to put it on SJ’s computer to print it off (she has the only printer), I couldn't retrieve it from the disk to which I had saved it.
When I prayed about it, I heard the Holy Spirit say, "Tell them about Me." I'm guessing that means the Holy Spirit wants me to share some things which happened this year which are undoubtedly God. The title is taken from the third chapter of the Book of Proverbs verse five which reads, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding." Also, I'd like to insert another scripture which I have also been frequently reminded of this past year. It is Numbers 23:19, "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?"
I remembered in '06 praying for rain for our area because we were not getting the rains in our region just like parts of the southeast have suffered this year. One day I said, "Lord, our lake is starting to get pretty low. Are you going to bring us some rain?" The Lord said, "Is it empty?" I replied, "Well, no." Then HE said, "Don't worry about it." And after that I really didn't worry about it because I knew HE knew, and all things work together for good to them who love God.
Like last year, I asked the Lord how much he wanted me to set aside for a Passover offering. HE told me the amount, and I have to admit I wasn't sure I was going to be able to come up with the money because HE also told me when to send it and to whom. But, low and behold, I was asked to do some work for somebody in Jan. '07. I also used Christmas money I had gotten in '06. I came up with the amount and was able to send it on the last day HE told me to. After putting the check in the mail, I came home, thanked God HE provided the way and the means, and then I heard "a Word"; deliverance. I'm still not entirely sure what HE meant by it.
By the standards of man, it has been a good year. By the standard for which I desire to stay connected to the Lord, it ain't been to good. It isn't God's fault because he delivers. I, on the other hand, have not spent the kind of quality time with God like I did since May of '04. I started going down hill in May after I wrote a letter to the editor of a local paper. I think the Lord told me not to do it, but I thought it was the devil because I was doing it with the best of intentions. In the letter, I asked the homosexual community to forgive me if I had ever made them feel like I had judged them using John chapter 8 as the basis for the letter. I also stated that I was handing out a tract from my workplace because I wanted people to know God really does love all of those who were created in HIS image.
Apparently, according to what someone in my church told my pastor who then related the basics of the information to me, there were several individuals who frequent a local bulletin board who wanted to see me fired from my job. I basically blew it off and didn't worry about it, but realized I had given some amount of thought to it when I let a spirit of fear get a hold of me. I stopped handing out the tract shortly after learning of the hoop-la over the letter. Had I never submitted the letter, I might have still been passing them out. Lean not unto thine own understanding.
I started handing out the tract, which is a story in itself, last year around Christmas time. Shortly before the tract was printed I had a vision while standing in my bedroom one fall afternoon. I saw a small boat being tossed about violently in a storm, and these words came to me, "It is not going to be easy." Then I saw the Lord and heard one word, "Peace." I really didn't give the vision a whole lot of thought until what happened after sending the letter to the paper. As I write, I find it difficult to witness to others about how God has changed my life. I should have listened to that "still, small voice", but I did it with all the best intentions. I did not however, pray about it before doing so. I'm still learning that particular aspect, because I'm still screwing up, or so it seems. I'm still haunted by the unclean spirit of fear.
As I stated earlier, it was a good year in one respect. The work on the side which the Lord provided on my days off doubled over last year. From April through July, I was busy doing yard work for someone else practically every day I had off. And, the firewood business which I dedicated solely to the Lord didn't let up either even after winter had ended. I made several deliveries of wood bundles to a store where many people camping out stop to buy various items. God's Word works. From every new yard I was asked to mow, I gave the entire amount to an organization which feeds hungry children. Thereafter, I gave anywhere from 15% to 25% of the money to the Lord's work on money I earned from repeat business. And every week, I was working for somebody most of the summer until August first.
On the first of August, the rain stopped which meant the grass stopped growing. While praying one day, the Lord said to me, "Lean time." For the entire month of August I didn't have one single job on my days off. I also realized, I hadn't been spending the kind of quality time with the Lord like I should have been. My prayer time didn't have the same zeal, and my bible reading was almost nonexistent. I was ever reminded of the verse, "To them who hath, more is given; to them who hath not, more is taken away." The more I put other things ahead of God, the less I had a desire to read the Word of God. I am still struggling with trying to read the Bible with any kind of regularity.
But I was blessed this year which also brings me back to the theme. A brother of Christ sold me a car for an unbeatable price. But I'm not sure I would have received it had I not been faithful prior to taking possession of it. One mid Sept. Saturday night, not really any different than any other night I work, a guy whom I had never met came into the store. As we conversed, he eventually told me that he had come to see the replica of the tabernacle in the wilderness erected on the Passion Play property. I told him he had missed his opportunity to see it that day and would not have another opportunity to do so until the next Tuesday since they were closed Sun. and Mon.
It wasn't particularly busy that night either, so I was able to talk to the gentleman much more than if I had had a steady stream of customers. He told me that he lived in Oklahoma City and had come to see the tabernacle after having seen Paula White and Steve Munsey doing a program on TBN from inside the tent. As I learned more about him, I found out he had made the drive to E.S. on a whim. I felt somewhat bad for him, thinking he would have to turn around and go back home. He didn't go back home. He didn't have a home to go back to.
The guy's name is Michael. He is a homeless Vietnam Vet that came to know the Lord after being divorced, addicted to alcohol, and losing his only son. When I pressed him to tell me how he came to know Jesus he said, "One day I picked up a bible my ex-wife had given me and just started reading it." Not entirely convinced, I pressed him further by asking him how he had gotten saved. You see, I can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit on certain occasions when speaking to other individuals about Jesus, but not one time did I ever feel the Holy Spirit's presence around Michael. Not one single time. As to how Michael was saved, he said, "There was a church close to where I was living in San Diego, so one day I just went. It was one of those "holy-roller" churches with all the shouting, clapping, speaking in tongues and stuff. At the end of the service, the preacher asked if there was anyone who would like to be baptized. As I sat in church watching and listening to all that ruckus, I felt like he was talking directly to me. So I got up and walked up to the front, and I got baptized." Michael also got set free from alcohol.
Now to be honest, I was confused spiritually. I had no doubt Michael was telling me the truth every time I spoke to him which ended up being about two and a half weeks. But yet, as I mentioned earlier, neither did I ever sense the Holy Spirit when we were together talking. And boy, did he talk. I liked Michael while he was in the area and would still be pleased to see him again.
When Michael showed up, I was going through a period of time when I had a lot on my mind and no one to talk to who is a Christian. Yes, I know quite a few brothers and sisters in Christ, but they are always busy, or I don't always feel comfortable expressing what is going on in my own spiritual walk with the Lord. In short, I was lonely for some Christian company.
Michael had enough money when he came to town to put himself up for the first night. The second night, a church put him up for the night in a motel. The third night, I invited him to stay on our property, but he would have to sleep in his truck. I knew SJ was not going to be comfortable with having a complete stranger stay in our home. I did tell her though about Michael coming to stay on the property. It did cause some contention between us, but she eventually came around to the point of agreeing to let him stay in the house. The Holy Spirit eventually began to convict her heart. But Michael could feel the tension and chose to stay in his truck.
The fifth day Michael was in town, I went to church on Wednesday morning as is my normal habit to pray alone. When I spoke to the Lord about Michael, the Lord said, "Encourage him, give him one hundred dollars, and let him go." I said, "Lord, you know I don't have a hundred dollars to give him, and why can't he stay?" No answer. Michael had gone to church with me that morning, having seen the tabernacle the day before. But he stayed in the lobby the entire time. I also received "a Word" from the Lord concerning where Michael should go once he left E.S. I told him, and also told him I had no idea what it meant or what awaited him. Before leaving church that day, I noticed Pastor was in his office. I asked him if he knew where Michael could stay for a few days until he figured out what and/or where he was going to go next. He said there was a men's shelter in town sponsored by the Here's Help Network out of St. Louis. It is housed in the Christian radio station outside of town which is owned by the network. Michael had a place to stay. And he ended up staying there a week.
As it so happened, I received a firewood order, mowed two lawns, and did a clean-up job which netted me about one hundred dollars within the week. But I didn't feel right about giving the money for the wood order to Michael because the Lord had told me earlier in the year what to do with the money from firewood sales. I also spent some of the money for gas and snacks to do the rest of the work. The following Sunday when Michael came into where I worked to pick up a shirt which he had left at our home after doing laundry, I slipped an envelope into the shirt with seventy-five dollars after having given him ten dollars the previous week to go see the tabernacle. I was almost able to do what God told me to do. I had also come to terms with not encouraging Michael to stay in the area. I spoke to him one time after that when he came over to the house to thank me for the money. I told him the truth, "The Lord told me to give it to you." I learned later, after not seeing Michael around, he may have gone to the Fayetteville area. All things work for good....; lean not unto thine own understanding.
A couple weeks later, I began grumbling about the fact that my truck needed new tires. I even heard myself blaming the church which I attend. Later that day, the pastor brought me some Little Debbie Zebra cakes. Well, I guess I could no longer say they had never done anything for me. It was a low moment for me because the Lord had been telling me after I had been asking for a newer truck that, "It is coming." I found myself saying, "Coming when?" The Lord would frequently remind me, "Do what I tell you to do." In my mind, I had been. I had been faithful in giving even when I had doubts, but still I gave.
A couple of days later, the assistant pastor asked me if some people I go to church with had gotten a hold of me. I told him they hadn't. The very next Sunday after my spiritual complaining, a couple from church walked up to me and told me the Lord had told them to give me a car. I was......speechless. But being the stupid creation that I have been known to be, I said quietly to the Lord, "Lord, I want a truck." Have you ever been verbally thumped by God?
I told the couple okay and thank you. I did some serious praying. You see, between the time Michael had left and before I was told this couple was going to give me a car, I had been praying for the ability to sow a sizeable seed into the Kingdom of God. Sometimes the seed doesn't always come in a neat little package which can then be planted. I said, "Lord, what do you want me to do with this car, and how do I accept the gift?" The Lord said, "Accept the car in my Name." So that is what I did. I went out to the couple's home, paid the asking price, and told them, "In the Name of Jesus, thank you for the car." But I still didn't know what to do with the car. The Lord said, "You will know when it is time." But I pressed, and I was rebuked. "Lord, I want a newer truck. And I want to be able to sow a big seed into your Kingdom. I also need money to pay the taxes on this year's blessing." The response was quick and to the point, "Sell the car, sow the seed, and I'll give you a truck!" I got humble real quick. So I asked the Lord how much I should sell the car for. HE said, "You set the price." So I started thinking, fifteen hundred, two thousand, twenty-five hundred. Then the Lord spoke again, "Don't be greedy." Okay, fifteen hundred it is.
Now I realize to most of you to whom I'll be sending this letter, this is nothing out of the ordinary. I assume you understand as I do, God wants to have a relationship with us, HIS creation. But we all have to go through the learning process ourselves to know how to have the kind of relationship God wants to have with each of us. The uniqueness of our personalities is no accident. All our individual spirits were created by the vastness of God's Spirit. I think that is one facet of the verse, "And he created us in his image." However, what HE also wants to create in us by the work of the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ Jesus is to trust HIS knowing in what is best for us individually. I believe that is one reason why it seems there is such a disparity in believers. It isn't that we don't believe. It is that where one may be strong in one fruit of the Spirit another is weak and vice versa. I think we make a mistake when we believe others should believe and live as we do. Instead, I believe what we should be doing is help when you can and let the Holy Spirit do the work in the individual. I've got a funny feeling God is a whole lot better at changing people than we are.
If you happen to be going through a season where you've been giving, giving, giving and have yet to see the results, I'd like to share something with you which the Lord spoke to me this past summer. HE said, "As I have blessed you to be a blessing unto others, I have blessed others to be a blessing unto you." From my own experience, you can pretty much bet your blessing and the form in which it comes will not look like you expect or come from where you expected.
It was an interesting year. And though I am not where I want to be with Jesus in this life, Praise the Lord! I'm not where I was.
Jesus Is Lord,
Mike Baruth |
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To: MSB who wrote (19) | 1/15/2008 4:11:49 AM | From: MSB | | | Do You Hear What I Hear?
One day, while speaking to a sister in Christ who came into the place where I work, I said, "One of these days I'd like to ask people to write down what they have heard from the Holy Spirit, and then see what, if anything, the common factors are."
I'd like to know what the Holy Spirit has been telling other people besides myself. I'd like to hear about the visions they've had or the dreams they never forgot. Jesus said, as recorded in the eighth chapter of John, "It is written in your law the witness of two men is true." Bear with me. In first Corinthians chapter thirteen, Paul wrote, "We prophesy in part because we know in part.....". Back to John, chapter sixteen, beginning with the thirteenth verse, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will shew you things to come."
Honestly, I am fascinated with and by the power of God through the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit which speaks to a person on behalf of God the Father through faith in Christ Jesus. So I'm going to tell you what I've seen by visions, heard through prayer, and dreamed in slumber. And I'd like to know from anyone what you've heard, seen, and dreamed not only to confirm the power of God and the truth of God's Word, but perhaps learn the ultimate question, "How much longer, Lord?"
HEARD
When praying for the sick: "I want to heal my children if they will believe." Laying hands on the sick: "Speak my Name," and "Believe in Me." Just praying about personal problems, situations, or personal needs: "Do you believe?", "What do you want?", "Trust Me.", "I am always with you.", "Do you love Me?", "Its coming.", "I am coming back, soon.", "Feed my children.", "Expect great things.", "I am going to open the windows of heaven above you.", "I will bless you.", "My word is my bond.", "Give it to me.", "Let me do the work."
Concerning sowing in faith: "My word is the seed, thy faith bringeth the harvest." Regarding reaping: "As I have blessed you to be a blessing unto others, I have blessed others to be a blessing unto you."
Regarding my community: "Pray for peace, not judgment."
Regarding the church (perhaps): "I am going to break the back of the spirit of Jezebel."
In rebuke: "You want the circus.", "Whose money is it?!", "Watch your mouth."
SEEN BY VISION
Jesus, while hanging on the cross, looks to his right directly at me and says, "I did it for you." Jesus standing between and above two tablets of stone. Blood running over a stone tablet chiseled with an unknown language. Jesus standing next to a tree in the middle of a vast plain with mountains in the background, offering me a piece of fruit from the tree. Myself standing next to a very bright light in space, looking down on the earth totally covered by pitch black darkness. (Picture an ebony marble) Jesus standing in a field of ripened wheat waist high waiving his arm across the heads of grain. (The field is weedless) The face of a man with a full, yet close shaven beard smiling with joy from ear to ear. (To this day I've never seen this man)
While praising God for a healing for which I'd been praying for someone else after being called out by a televangelist (it was pretty specific), for a split second I saw an angel. He was huge. He had golden hair, was smiling and had an almost iridescent radiance about him. By the way, the person died, although to this day I don't believe they should have. I believe they wanted to die, knowing what awaited them.
IN SLUMBER
Entered through a garage door into a two story building with crude bathrooms, sleeping quarters, and a central room. In the middle of the room were six four legged stools with a book on each one. Somehow, I was able to walk and look down upon each book. All the books were opened in the middle, and each book had the same thing written on the pages: Luke 2:18. When I looked back, I saw a muddy shoe print on each of the books.
In a dream I was being chased by what I believed in the dream to be the devil. Finally, after I could not outrun him, I fell to the ground and cried out to God in an unknown tongue. Instantly, the devil was gone.
More than a few times, after I am asleep, I see myself leaving my body and floating up toward the ceiling of our bedroom. I know I'm dreaming because of where I see my wife and how she is sleeping verses where she is in the dreams because sometimes I'm able to wake up after the dream. They're not all alike, but they are similar. I want to leave my body in spirit form so I can float to the third heaven and be with Jesus. Unfortunately, I rarely make it past the outside of our home. When I try to re-enter, I am attacked by something evil in our bedroom. It seems like a long fight to get back to the place from whence I first began. This has happened several times in '07.
I see myself walking with other people into a place with a large room. Hanging from the ceiling are different kinds of scavenger birds all having been stuffed. I leave the room, separated from others, and am walking through a maze of different shops selling all manner of items. I see and walk towards a larger space where an overlook has been built. It is all white with white lathed railing around the entire circle. As soon as I step into the circle, suddenly I am standing before a brilliant, beautiful translucent figure of light surrounded by what appears to be people seated in a circle around the figure. I cannot see their faces, but all of them are saying the same thing, "Holy, holy, holy." Then, a petite woman with gray hair wearing a green, knee length skirt comes to me from my left and with joy hugs me and gives me a kiss on the cheek. Before I release our embrace, I hear another woman call out my name. As I turn to see who the woman is coming toward me from my right, the dream ends.
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I know to most people hearing from God and/or seeing in the Spirit sounds too far out to be true, but to many, many passionate believers it is common place. Most of those people, however, are reluctant to share with others these types of experiences out of fear of what their peers may think of them. Nor will the vast majority of believers seek out the supernatural of God for fear of being deceived by demons. On the other hand, unbelievers frequently chide or ridicule those who openly use their Spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are not given to believers to be used for personal gain or gratification. They're given by God through the Holy Spirit to be used by the direction of the Holy Spirit not only to edify the Body of Christ (the church in the broadest sense of the word), but ultimately glorify God through faith in Christ Jesus. The gifts of the Holy Spirit reveal God.
Before I close, I, personally, do not like to dream. I pray every night before I pass into sleep that the Lord will grant me a peaceful sleep. I pray HE will protect me that I sin not against HIM. I have had my entire life an all too visual dream life during times of sleep. I would not miss ever having another dream for the rest of it. If I cannot be with the Lord in my sleep, then I pray I never have another dream.
Mike
P.S. After writing this, the Lord told me how to have a restful sleep without bad dreams. In prayer, place your dreams under the blood of Jesus. I’ve done this every night since receiving the instruction from the Holy Spirit and have yet to have another nightmare of a demonic nature.
Also, lest I forget, one of the most powerful times I heard directly from the Lord was during a time when I did not join others in a prayer circle due to a low time in my spiritual walk with the Lord. A 79 year old retired pastor took my hands as I prayed and prayed with me. When he finished, the power of God came upon me and I heard these words, “What do you think is impossible for me?” I melted in tears knowing there was only one answer, “Nothing, Lord.” |
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To: MSB who wrote (20) | 1/17/2008 10:02:22 AM | From: PROLIFE | | | I am the recipient of a double lung transplant a few years ago.
Shortly after I came home from my transplant center, a fellow believer in Christ asked me if I had had an epiphany or any revelations from God during or after my surgery transplanting these lungs. I revealed that I really could not point to a specific time, and I was careful about that because I was taking so much morphine and pain control drugs the first few days, that my mind was not in full gear anyway. (I did however see a few Chinese warriors dropping from the ceiling tiles wielding little hatchets coming for me.....and once I looked at the patient next to me and I his IV pole had bags hanging from it names "potatoes" and "steak" and "cake"....hmmmm. <VBG>!
But after...a week or two later, two folks came up to visit me on a Sunday and they brought communion with them. As we shared the communion together, that is when the Holy Spirit welled up within me and cried out Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty, the whole earth is full of His Glory. That is when that I fully realized that just as a physical man had died to extend my physical life...so did Jesus die for my spiritual life and for the salvation of my eternal soul! You cannot imagine how that makes you feel knowing that a man says to you..."Here...take my lungs...or my heart...or my eyes..", yet the physical man did. I still do not know his name, but I hope to some day. So too, Jesus says to me (and to all) HERE, TAKE MY LIFE, GIVEN FOR YOU. and I do know Him....NOW!
For years, so many people all over the country had prayed for me; relatives, people in my own home congregation, people in other congregations that I have never personally met, many brothers and sisters in the Lord's church. Although I was nervous about rolling into the operating room, I was not scared for I too prayed for the surgeons and nurses as I was put under.
Having new lungs is a blessing, and it is wonderful to be able to breathe, but the operation presents a whole new set of problems and for many, it is not all peaches and cream. Some days I wonder why the good Lord let me live at all, then something will happen or He will put someone right in front of me, and I have to say I am sorry to Him for not completely trusting Him.
There is no doubt in my mind that God's hand has been guiding my life from point to point, and that is my testimony. I am not perfect and there has been times that I stray off to what is not good for me, and the Lord God allows me to do so, but He ALWAYS has provided a road back to the true path of salvation. Thank God.
dan |
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To: MSB who wrote (20) | 2/9/2008 2:22:31 AM | From: MSB | | | TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: I pray you will find it in your heart to forgive me for the way I spoke to you publicly and/or privately, or by either way about you with malicious intent. I've known for a long time that I had wronged you by the way I treated you prior to May of 2004. I had hoped that I could forget it by no longer interacting with you or those you know, but during prayer this night, the Lord told me to make amends. I am sorry I spoke to you in any manner which would have caused you anything less than a positive reaction.
In the Name of Jesus,
Mike |
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To: MSB who wrote (22) | 2/9/2008 2:08:28 PM | From: Sidney Reilly | | | I know what you mean MSB. I sometimes still regret things I've said even as far back as 25 years, because the person used what I said to justify doing a very evil and harmful thing. If I had known what she was going to do with what I said I would have refused to even speak with her. She twisted it to justify herself. |
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