- araratchurch
- Oct 20, 2023
- 4 min read
““I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”” Job 42:5-6 NKJV
Jesus had just finished telling the disciples that He was going to go and prepare a place for those who are His. Not only that, He said that He would return to get those for whom a place had been prepared.
““Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.”” John 14:1-4 NKJV
Thomas then remarks that they don’t know where Jesus is going, and that they certainly did not know the way.
“Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:5-6 NKJV
Jesus then goes on to explain to them that knowing Him, is knowing the Father.
““If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” John 14:7-9 NKJV
The question Jesus asks Philip is one many people would do well to consider in terms of their own knowledge of God: “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me?”
Several years ago the Lord spoke to me, saying, “What you think you know about Me, is keeping you from truly knowing Me.”
Wow, that definitely got my attention. You see, it’s easy to form a picture of God that has more to do with our own assumptions, coming out of our own experience, than it does with what God has revealed concerning Himself.
Sadly, as human beings, we tend to cling to assumptions we have held over the course of our lifetime. Indeed, those very assumptions can be a barrier to receiving or knowing the truth about God.
“My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children.” Hosea 4:6 NLT
Throughout the Old Testament, God speaks of the fact that His people don’t really know Him. In the above scripture, we see that the Lord says that their lack of knowledge of Him (and what He wants) is actually leaving them open to the destruction they are seeing.
As well, we see many references in the New Testament to people who think they know Who God is, but don’t.
Paul, in speaking to the church at Philippi, explains that there are those who have set their minds on earthly things so that they now have become enemies of the cross of Christ!
“For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things.” Philippians 3:18-19 NKJV
Now, we may suppose there to be a big difference between imposing our own idea of God on our understanding of Him, and, on the other hand, being an enemy of the cross of Christ. But, in actuality, any persistent divergence from the truth God has revealed about Himself, can put us on the same path as those who openly disregard what the Lord has said.
In our opening scripture we see Job confessing that before the Lord “schooled” him concerning Himself, he had not truly known the Lord.
Child of God, let us not so tightly cling to our own misconceptions concerning God (coming out of our own experience, our own analysis, our heeding false doctrine, etc.), keep us from knowing who He truly is.
As we are discussing the need to go beyond our spiritual status quo, to the “capable of doing exploits level,” we must remember that our spiritual authority and ability will never pass the level of our understanding of Who God really is.
There is coming a day when we will perfectly know Him, and perfectly be like Him. But, for now, we must listen carefully to the Holy Spirit, attending carefully to the written word of God, so that, in as much as it is possible, we will truly know Him.
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” I John 3:1-2 NKJV
Peace to you. Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him! #ThePropheticWord
- araratchurch
- Oct 20, 2023
- 4 min read
“Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. So it was, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day. When they came there to the hill, there was a group of prophets to meet him; then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. And it happened, when all who knew him formerly saw that he indeed prophesied among the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What is this that has come upon the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”” I Samuel 10:6, 9-11 NKJV
Surprisingly, one of what many suppose to be a very delicate creature—the butterfly—actually can migrate thousands of miles. Indeed, this migration is necessary for the continuation of the species, allowing them to winter in more moderate climates.
The monarch butterfly is probably the most ubiquitous in terms of representing butterflies in general.
Now, not only does the monarch butterfly go through metamorphosis, taking it from a crawling caterpillar to a lovely floating creature, it also, even as a caterpillar, goes through five stages, known as instars. Yes, the caterpillar will shed its skin four times.
With each shedding, the caterpillar gains length and weight, getting bigger and heavier until the time it reaches the appropriate size and weight to go into the pupal stage.
When reaching the ideal size and weight to go into the pupal stage, the caterpillar attaches itself underneath the leaf of a plant. There, it will shed its skin for the last time, revealing the green chrysalis from which it will emerge as the beautiful creature we know and appreciate.
Whereas I know you might appreciate butterflies as much as I do, you’ve probably already guessed that this is about more than butterflies.
You see, we come to the Lord as babes and begin the process of spiritual development.
As God’s children, we have access to His Holy Spirit Who enables and oversees our spiritual development.
We also have the written word of God to instruct us in righteousness.
“as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” I Peter 2:2-3 NKJV
However, as we grow in the Spirit, we should be able to begin to receive deeper understanding, developing into more mature children. To aid in that process, we also have been given the five-fold ministry of the Church.
“And He Himself 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, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
As we grow, we should gain in stature, becoming stronger in faith, as well as more abundant in fruit (good works). Sadly, many Christians’ spiritual development becomes stunted so that they cannot receive greater understanding or revelation, much less be capable of doing exploits
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” Hebrews 5:12-14 NKJV
In our opening scripture, we see the story of Saul, the first king of Israel.
Saul, in order to serve as King, needed to become a “new man.” And, just as Samuel had prophesied, that is exactly what happened!
Child of God, we are living in the Last Days before the coming of Jesus Christ. That being the case, we cannot continue to operate in the status quo with no real urgency concerning our spiritual development. Yes, this is the hour for us to press forward into becoming who God has created us to be.
The survival of the monarch butterfly depends on its ability to go from an earthbound creature (spending most of its time navigating a singular plant), to a winged marvel capable of flying a couple of hundred miles a day in their thousands of miles migration.
Our spiritual survival in these perilous times in which we are living, depends on our ability to leave the “still-struggling-with-sin” stage, to go on to know the Lord. In so doing, we can be ready for whatever we must face, as well as being prepared to do whatever the Lord instructs; and, yes, ready to “fly,” ready to do EXPLOITS!
“…but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” Daniel 11:32b NKJV
We’ll look further into this tomorrow.
Peace to you. Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him! #ThePropheticWord
- araratchurch
- Oct 20, 2023
- 3 min read
In preparation for our discussion over the next five days, please carefully read and meditate on these passages of scripture:
“Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. So it was, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day. When they came there to the hill, there was a group of prophets to meet him; then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. And it happened, when all who knew him formerly saw that he indeed prophesied among the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What is this that has come upon the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”” I Samuel 10:6, 9-11 NKJV
““I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”” Job 42:5-6 NKJV
“And He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.” Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.” Mark 9:1-4 NKJV
“Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them. Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”” Luke 24:28-32 NKJV
“As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”” Acts 9:3-6
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.” Romans 8:18-19 NKJV
Living in the last days before the soon coming of Jesus Christ, we are facing pressures and challenges as we have never seen before.
As well, there is much work to be done to bring in the last harvest of souls into the kingdom of God.
As such, we—as Christ’s ambassadors on the earth—must be ready to do more than just survive the evil onslaught; yes, we must be able to do exploits.
Over the next five days, we will discuss the need for a next-level transformation to be able to contend with next-level challenges.
Peace to you. Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him! #ThePropheticWord