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We delve into one of the most significant speeches in history—Moses' final address to Israel in the book of Deuteronomy. Moses urges the Israelites to believe in Yahweh, follow the Law, and take the Promised Land. Additionally, we unpack Moses' prophecy about a future prophet like him, who will speak God's words and mediate between God and the people. This speech, remembered for over 3,000 years, not only recaps Israel's past but also looks forward to the coming of a prophet greater than Moses.Support the showRead along with us in the Bible Brief App! Try the Bible Brief book for an offline experience!Get your free Bible Timeline with the 10 Steps: Timeline LinkSupport the show: Tap here to become a monthly supporter!Review the show: Tap here!Want to go deeper?...Download the Bible Brief App!iPhone: App Store LinkAndroid: Play Store LinkWant a physical book? Check out "Bible Brief" by our founder!Amazon: Amazon LinkWebsite: biblebrief.orgInstagram: @realbiblebriefX: @biblebriefFacebook: @realbiblebriefEmail the Show: biblebrief@biblelit.orgWant to learn the Bible languages (Greek & Hebrew)? Check out our partner Biblingo (and use our link/code for a discount!): https://biblin...
Color: White Old Testament: Numbers 21:4–9 Psalm: Psalm 107:1–9; antiphon: v. 19 Epistle: 1 Timothy 2:1–6 Epistle: James 1:22–27 Gospel: John 16:23–33 Gospel: John 16:23–30 Introit: Psalm 66:1–2a, 17, 19–20; antiphon: Isaiah 48:20b Verse: Liturgical Text; John 16:28 The Father Answers Our Prayers Because of Jesus “Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you” (John 16:23). To pray in Jesus' name is to pray as one who has been baptized. For it is in the water that He put His name upon you, claiming you as His own, making you a son of God with access to the Father. By His incarnation and crucifixion, our Lord Jesus broke through the barrier of sin which separated us from God, opening a portal to the Father. To pray in Jesus' name is to pray with faith in Him as the one Mediator between God and men, who gave Himself a ransom for all (1 Tim. 2:1–6). Like Moses in the wilderness, Jesus is our go-between and intercessor before the throne of heaven. He was lifted up for us on the cross that we might be saved and restored to fellowship with the Father (Num. 21:4–9). Looking into this perfect teaching of liberty (James 1:22–27) we pray with boldness and confidence as dear children of God. Lectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship
Like Moses, Jesus ascended on a mountain to bring a rule for living to the people. He showed them how to find permanent bliss that nothing can take away: not sickness, not poverty, nor persecution. These are the Beatitudes, and Fr. Chris Alar, MIC, explains their meaning and application in our daily lives. Become a Marian Helper!Discover more about the Catholic faith on Divine Mercy Plus!
Life can easily become a cycle of routines, responsibilities, and distractions, but Exodus 3 reminds us that Jesus steps into our ordinary lives to awaken us to His presence, invite us into His mission, and sustain us with His power. Just as God met Moses in the middle of his monotony, He is calling us out of comfort and into a life of purpose, dependence, and kingdom impact.Christ's Presence Awakens YouChrist's Mission Includes YouChrist's Power Sustains YouLife Group Discussion:What routines, distractions, or struggles make it easy for you to miss God's presence in your everyday life?Like Moses, have you ever felt unqualified or inadequate for what God was calling you to do? Why?What challenge or calling in your life feels impossible without Jesus?
Life can easily become a cycle of routines, responsibilities, and distractions, but Exodus 3 reminds us that Jesus steps into our ordinary lives to awaken us to His presence, invite us into His mission, and sustain us with His power. Just as God met Moses in the middle of his monotony, He is calling us out of comfort and into a life of purpose, dependence, and kingdom impact.Christ's Presence Awakens YouChrist's Mission Includes YouChrist's Power Sustains YouLife Group Discussion:What routines, distractions, or struggles make it easy for you to miss God's presence in your everyday life?Like Moses, have you ever felt unqualified or inadequate for what God was calling you to do? Why?What challenge or calling in your life feels impossible without Jesus?
God meets us in the ordinary, but we must never treat His presence casually. Like Moses at the burning bush, discover how maintaining deep awe and reverence prevents familiarity from stealing your wonder and keeps your heart sensitive to His voice today.
First Fruits Escape Judgments (1) (audio) David Eells - 6/10/26 Friends, time is running out to be in the first-fruits and to escape the judgments that are soon coming upon the unrighteous and apostates. Please listen closely to these prophetic warnings from some who have been in the wilderness for many years. Jesus is Coming Unexpectedly Tubby Miniard (David's notes in red) I had a dream about a preacher I met many years ago in Baton Rouge. (He met me there) He asked me, “Do you want to see Jesus?” I said, “Yes”. I became very excited. I looked to the left, then to the right. On the right, I saw a door. It was open. I watched the door, expecting Jesus to walk through it. The man tapped my shoulder. I looked at him. He asked, “Do you want to see Jesus?” I said, “Yes”, and returned to staring at the door, expecting Jesus to walk through it. He tapped my shoulder again, and I looked at him. Again, he asked, “Do you want to see Jesus?” I got angry. This was the third time he had asked me this. I said, “Yes, I need to see Jesus. I need to talk to Him”. He said, “Okay. Look at me”. We were facing each other. He put his hand at the top of his forehead. Then he pulled off his face. There was Jesus! This was not what I expected. I thought Jesus would walk through the door I was looking at. (This is not to brag on me for sure but because of my name I represent here the David man-child ministries who will be the first fruits. Jesus, came as a man in the flesh calling himself the Son of Man, Who was the manifested Son of God in the Spirit, said, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” Can His disciples come into His image and pass on His likeness? This is why His disciples were called Christians. He said, “He that receiveth you receiveth Me”. Paul called this “Christ in you, the hope of glory”.) His eyes were two large diamonds. Light came from His eyes. They sparkled brightly. (Those who can pass on this image have very valuable, clear sight. They have eyes for the Light only.) His face and hair were red. They were flaming fire. I was amazed. I was speechless. I just stared at Him, His face flaming like a fire. As I stared at His face, my eyes began to turn into diamonds and my face began to flame. It was awesome. 2Co.3:18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.) When He saw this, He smiled and said, “Now you get it”. He turned and walked toward the open door and I watched as He walked through it. A woman stepped up and stood in the threshold of the door. She called to me and said, “You need to hurry”. I noticed that the door was slowly closing by itself. (The door to be in the first-fruits Man-child is closing.) I kind of knew that when it closed, it could not be opened from my side. I began to run toward the door as fast as I could. (The door is Jesus. Run, saints, to the “prize of the high calling of God in Christ”.) I woke up before I could reach it. But the door was still open. Heb.12:14 Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord. (There is more to this text concerning those who will not make it through the door; continuing in verse 15 looking carefully lest [there be] any man that falleth short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble [you], and thereby the many be defiled [some who knew of this opportunity are now defiling many]; 16 lest [there be] any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one mess of meat [which represents walking after flesh] sold his own birthright [to be a first born son of Abraham]. 17 For ye know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected [Greek: adokimos; “reprobated”]; for he found no place for a change of mind [in his father,] (who then refused to give him the first fruit blessing) though he sought it diligently with tears. Oh, friends, heed the warnings. They can't change their mind, meaning they cannot repent.) I don't complain about the mean people anymore. I just try to stay out of their way. They can have it all. I want Jesus. Psa.27:8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Jehovah, will I seek. Scripture study for the dream This is the heir of promise: Rom.8:17 and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him. Gal.4:1-7 But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a bondservant though he is lord of all; 2 but is under guardians and stewards until the day appointed of the father. 3 So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the rudiments of the world: 4 but when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 that he might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6 And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 So that thou art no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. Heb.1:2 hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds; The fully-grown man: Eph.4:13 till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: The perfect: 1Co.13:10-11 but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. Luk.6:40 The disciple is not above his teacher: but every one when he is perfected shall be as his teacher. The Man-child; the rapture Hos.9:11 As for Ephraim (Jacob called Ephraim “a multitude of nations” -- Genesis 48:19), their glory (which is Christ; Luk.2:32 A light for revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of thy people Israel. Col.1:27 …the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:) They will overcome the lure of the world like a bird.…(Psa.68:13 It is as the wings of a dove covered with silver, And her pinions with yellow gold. Mat.24:28 Wheresoever the carcase is (I.e.,dead to self), there will the eagles be gathered together. Psa.84:3-4 Yea, the sparrow hath found her a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even thine altars, O Jehovah of hosts, My King, and my God. Psa 84:4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: Proverbs 23:5 …certainly make themselves wings, Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.) From the birth, from the womb, from conception (Rev.12:5 And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne. Isa.66:7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child. Mic.5:3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she who travaileth hath brought forth: then the residue of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.) Hos.9:12 Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left… (False teachers cannot bring forth first fruits. All fully-grown men and women become one in Christ [Galatians 3:28,29] and shall escape) – Jer.31:9 They shall come with weeping; and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born. God spoke to Moses face to face – Exo.33:11 And Jehovah spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend….; Deu.34:10 And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom Jehovah knew face to face. God will speak to the Man-child face to face -- 1Co.13:12 For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known. The door – Mat.25:10 And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage feast: and the door was shut. Luk.13:25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he shall answer and say to you, I know you not whence ye are; Salesman Preachers, Usurpers Tubby Miniard (David's notes in red) I dreamed that I was a forward observer at the front line. There were eight of us. We were in pairs, dug in, waiting for the enemy to attack. It was dark, and a dense fog fell over our line of defense. Suddenly, one forward observer yelled, “They're here!” We jumped from our places to meet them. There were so many that they poured in like a flood. (Who is the true Church fighting these days? The tares that are sown among the wheat. Satan's emissaries to defeat the Church from within.) We fought back-to-back for protection. It was very effective. We slaughtered them. None of us was hurt. We fought all night. As the dawn was breaking and the mist began to rise, our army arrived, and they very easily overwhelmed the enemy. The enemy left was already wounded and weak, so it was easy for them to take them out. Next, I was at my grandpa's house, where my mother lived. I asked her, “Do you need anything?” She said, “Yes, I need wood for the fire”. I said, “Okay”. I got wood and filled every room in the house. I told her, “This is enough wood, so your fire will never go out, and I have a good fire going in the fireplace”. She said, “You're a good son”. (Those who have fought Satan's army ahead of the front line of tribulation will be there to defend the woman Church from false usurpers during the tribulation. The good son will provide plenty of fuel to see to it that Mom's [the true Church's] fire will never go out. It says in Lev.6:12 And the fire upon the altar shall be kept burning thereon, it shall not go out; and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning: and he shall lay the burnt-offering in order upon it, and shall burn thereon the fat of the peace-offerings. 13 Fire shall be kept burning upon the altar continually; it shall not go out.) There was someone knocking at the door. She went outside, and I followed her. It was a salesman wearing a spotted suit. (These proud fakes that Satan is raising up will be known by the elect because of their slick attempts to sell themselves with their spotted garments of a rebellious, egotistical life. Jude 23 and some save, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Rev.19:8 And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright [and] pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 2Co.11:15 It is no great thing therefore if his [Satan's] ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works.) He was fat and the suit was too small (overcome by flesh). He looked funny. (Children who do not look like the Father because they are of another seed than the Word.) I stepped between them. I felt protective of her. I didn't trust him. He began to tell her of the great war and mighty victory our nation had won. (Our one spiritual nation of true Christianity?) He was bragging and boasting. (A sign of a usurper.) He wanted her to think he was a patriot. (They are untried with no accomplishments or authority.) He spoke as if he were there. I said, “You're lying. I was there. I'm a Forward Observer in front of the front line. They call us the eyes of the artillery. (Calling in strikes from the angels) There were eight of us. (The gematria of Jesus name - 888) We fought all night. When our people arrived, there wasn't much to do”. My Captain (Jesus) told me, “Don't come see me unless you win a star”. I won a star for valor in battle. I took it and gave it to my Captain (Jesus). He gave it back to me as a reward, a medal of honor. I held up a star. I had it on a necklace. A brilliant light shone from it. It was amazing to see. “And here is my sword”. I pulled out a sword covered with blood. Jer.48:10 Cursed be he that doeth the work of Jehovah negligently; and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood. When he saw the sword, he turned very pale and turned and ran away. (The usurpers are powerless before the Word of God.) I laughed. I told Mother, “You're safe now. He won't be back. Now that they know I'm here, they won't bother you anymore”. She said, “You're a good son”. I told her, “I have things I must do. If you need me, just call, and I will be here swiftly”. I got into a car and drove away, feeling very proud of my star and sword, and satisfied that Mother was okay. (The Man-child sons will defend the woman in the wilderness.) Flood of Deception Cuts Off Escape Tubby Miniard (David's notes in red) I was running through a barren, very dry land. All the trees looked dead—no leaves, no grass, no flowers. Nothing was green. I noticed there were a lot of very dry thorn bushes. Isa.24:6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are found guilty: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. I was calling to people, warning them of a flood that was soon approaching. (The Lord spoke to me about the flood. He said, “This flood is the son of perdition.”) (Perdition means destruction where they go. Representing Judases and their hidden evil lives, lack of fruit, and hatred of good, and fake Christianity.) They laughed at me and ran from me down paths hedged in by thorn bushes. Some of them were drinking wine. The women had silver cups to drink from. The men had wine bottles from which they drank. The bottles looked nasty and old. They were laughing as they ran. (They are spiritually drunken, speaking as fools, perverting reality, overcome with delusion.) I thought, How could anyone be happy in this barren, dry place? Suddenly, two men called to me. They were standing by the bridge. They said, “Time's up. (meaning for the righteous to be in the wilderness) Cross the bridge now”. I said, “Okay”. I ran across the bridge. As I was crossing, I saw a wall of water coming down the river. (He said, “The bridge is the cross of Christ, the altar of burnt offering.” [Those who believe in the cross of sacrificed flesh and bear theirs will escape. Heb.2:3 how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard. Rom.2:3 And reckonest thou this, O man, who judgest them that practise such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? 2Pe.2:20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first.] The wicked will remove the cross, causing the continual sacrifice [of their old life] to cease.) (Then the fleshly beast will rule in the temple of God as an abomination that maketh one desolate of God.) As soon as my feet touched the bank, I turned around to watch. The flood hit the bridge hard, knocking it out and washing it away. I looked across the river and thought, Now they can never cross over. I felt bad for them, but this side was great. Everything was alive— trees, flowers, grass, birds singing; it was nice, blue skies. (what,no chemtrails?) There was a door there with nothing around it. I opened it and went in. There were lots of people there. Everyone was happy, laughing, singing, and bragging on Jesus. They rushed to greet me, saying, “We have been expecting you. We're so glad you're here”. I was happy I was home. I had this same dream a second time about six months later. (When a dream is doubled, it is certain to happen -- Genesis 41:32; Daniel 2:45.) In the second dream, when I crossed the bridge and looked back I noticed the women did not wear shoes. I thought, That doesn't look safe -- no shoes in this place. (Representing dirty walks; not sanctified from the earthly.) I didn't grieve as before. I was angry and thought, “You had a bridge, but you refused to cross over. I warned you all, but you laughed and ran away. All of you deserve this. It's your fault you're stranded over there.” (Under the dominion of Satan's Beast and the curse. Please hear the Word and obey.) Tribulations: Tests of Obedience Judy Gregerson - 04/02/2010 (David's notes in red) I was walking around with someone, and a great windstorm whipped up. (Walking with the Lord as the tribulation arises. Winds of false doctrine and tribulation are coming to test the saints to prove whether or not they are obeying the Word. We see here that after knowledge comes testing to see who has built on the Rock of obedience.) Mat.7:24 Every one therefore that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them, shall be likened unto a wise man, who built his house upon the rock: 25 and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon the rock. 26 And every one that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand: 27 and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and smote upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall thereof. ... Eph.4:14 that we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error. I was around these huge, old trees, and branches started breaking off in the wind. This old growth was not strong; in fact, it looked rotten in these old trees. (The old churches, denominations, and ministries that refuse the new growth of the reformation message are being revealed as rotten and corrupt by the winds and storms of tribulation now whipping up in the world. Judgments in finances, politics, life, weather, earthquakes, wind, earth, and changes in the heavens, etc. Those one with the vine have regeneration. Joh.15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for apart from me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If these old churches were of God, they would bring forth His fruit as the nature, character and authority of Jesus. But even though they appear great in the eyes of man, inside they are rotten and dead.) And I kept walking and, finally, two or three small pieces of branches came flying at me. (People from the churches who come against us, especially their leaders, just as they persecuted Jesus and His disciples.) One piece about two feet long hit me, but I felt no pain and I wasn't hurt. But huge branches were falling all around on other things. (God's judgment on big apostate church leaders and ministries as they FALL in tribulations.) I was amazed by the old growth. I was looking up in these trees, and I knew that this old growth (Apostate Christians walking in old tradition and error) was all going to be blown off these trees and hurt a lot of things on the ground, but it couldn't hurt me, even when it came FLYING at me with great power. (The Christians living close to the world will suffer as they and their apostate leadership are broken off and exposed. The falling away of branches of Christianity will come against and persecute the elect. Act.8:1… And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church.) World Covenant and End-Time Ministries Amos Scaggs - 3/4/2007 (David's notes in red) I saw a bust figure of two breasts covered up with an angora goat hide, and over that was another material used to secure everything in place. (I thought the breasts were bound up for a time when they would be used for feeding. An angora hide is set apart from all others, being considerably more expensive.) The angora hide without its flesh represents the old man who is dead and now a new person of great value. This angora hide now covers the two witnesses who share the milk of the Kingdom and are an extension of the Man-child ministry. The true milk of the Word is permitted to be restrained until God's anointing breaks the yoke to release it to the multitudes. According to scriptural type, this will be when the tribulation has come. But David and Moses, as types of the Man-child, fed and defended those few sheep in the wilderness before coming to their greater kingdom ministry to the multitudes of God's people. There was a poster graph scale with 10 men's faces on it. There were nine men in place on the chart and colored in with black. The tenth man's silhouette was in white at first glance. There was a disagreement or a struggle between two people over when to put the 10th man on the chart. Then the tenth man was put on the chart, and half of his face was colored in with black to satisfy the others. I thought the men represented a period of time before completion. Whatever that period of time is, it is very short. This could be the time when Jesus will start to feed his people, who also walk in darkness, through the Man-child. 10 men's faces represent the 10 kings of the world continental divisions of the beast kingdom. One-half face could be the time until the beast covenant is completed at the beginning of the tribulation, and the man-child/witnesses begin to feed the milk to the young church on a worldwide basis. (The half black face could represent that one kingdom is divided over its support of the beast. Satan is the deceiver of the whole world outside of Christ.) It's Confirmed: It Is the End Times Brandon Corsi - 02/04/2011 (David's notes in red) I wanted to give a testimony of a couple of dreams the Lord gave me within the past year and a half concerning my belief that the end times are coming soon. The first dream came about a year and a half ago. I never waver in my belief in the Lord (not that I never waver in obedience), but I was really struggling with unbelief about some end-times prophecy I was hearing from people and seeing online, some even from UBM (I was just a casual listener then). Might I also add that I was not raised to be a Christian nor in church, and if anything, the beliefs I was taught were more agnostic than anything. My father, being a science-minded person who graduated with a degree in science, didn't push any beliefs on me, but being a young boy, I think I unknowingly adopted his beliefs and carried them with me longer than I knew or wanted to. That is, until the Lord changed my life. Anyway, I think I was still getting rid of the last of those remnants of the old Brandon. I began my real walk with the Lord a few years ago, so my faith in Jesus was as strong then as it is now. But I had trouble with the skepticism inside of me. Well, I took it to the Lord for the first time, asking Him before bed to please give me a dream to show me the truth that tribulation is coming very soon. Well, I got one. It was a year ago, and I didn't write it down, but in the dream, I remember I found a card with a number on it. So when I awoke, I decided to see what page in the Bible it was and, sure enough, it was page 753 in my Bible, which includes Revelation 11:1-2, which speaks about the tribulation (I'll explain the significance of that in a moment). He gave me what I wanted, so I was at peace for the time being. Four or five months later, I got some more unbelief on me, as I was hearing more and more specific and amazing prophecies about the rapidly approaching tribulation; by the way, all these things I had heard were from very credible sources, including UBM. Once again, I became troubled by the fact that I was skeptical about them. Honestly, all I wanted was to just believe. I wished I hadn't ever had doubts, but I did. So I went to the Lord again, although a little more reluctantly this time, for He already showed me once, and I didn't want to fall out of His favor. I asked Him, once again, to please give me one more confirmation that I can believe these things. And I had another very powerful dream, in which I was sitting in my bedroom as a child and got the urge to go look at a Bible that was on my sleeping mother's nightstand. I crept in there quietly to get it and saw she was sleeping, so I went over and got the Bible. In the dream, I didn't even know why I wanted to look at it -- I just did. I opened the front cover, and it read, “Revelation 11:1-2”. So in the dream I opened to this scripture, and it is in the exact scripture text which gives the time period for the tribulation: 42 months or 1260 days. Right before I woke up, I heard a voice speak to me, an unrecognizable male voice. It said, “Do not ask me this again”. I woke up very shaken but happy and filled with praise for the Lord for giving me this second confirmation. Might I also add that those are the only two times I have ever asked the Lord to show me proof that the end times are approaching, and He answered both times. I was already very satisfied with my answer, but I decided to go ahead and read Revelation 11:1-2. A double surprise! Not only did it mention specifically the time period of the tribulation, but it was on the same page -- 753 -- as the other dream had me go to! Praise God! Rev.11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 2 And the court which is without the temple leave without, and measure it not; for it hath been given unto the nations: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. (Notice that there is an exhortation here for Brandon and you: The people who are in the temple and altar, meaning abiding in Christ and have their flesh on the altar of the fiery trial, will escape being trampled under the feet of the beast because they are not in the outer court and are close to the presence of God in the Holy of Holies. This is why the Lord gave this text to Brandon.) In closing, I hope and pray that any unbelief that may come upon me, God strikes it down. (This is part of leaving the flesh on the altar to burn up; we are to cast down fleshly imaginations that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God.) I am still working on improving my walk with God. I have made some bad choices in the past, but He is working very quickly in me lately, and I praise Him for that because now I know that time is short. I hope and pray that I might have a chance to become a disciple of Jesus Christ before time is up. God Bless. Wilderness Just Ahead Deborah Horton's vision - 09/7/2005 As I lay back down for a little more sleep after getting my husband off to work, I closed my eyes, and before my head hit the pillow, here is what I saw. (I'm pretty sure I wasn't asleep because it was over when my head touched the pillow and I immediately sat back up.) I saw a large motor home that was towing a car with its two front wheels up on a trailer behind it. (Years later they ended up living in just such a vehicle and still do.) as it pulled in for gas at the Fast Stop convenience store, which in real life is at the entrance to our subdivision, on Highway 176 at the entrance ramp to I-26. My eyes were drawn to the license plate on the motor home, and I saw it very clearly. It was similar to the North Dakota plate, which has a landscape and bison silhouette on it, but the one on the motor home had the silhouette of a cow, in red, facing toward the right. As I sat back up, I exclaimed, “The red heifer!” The motor home was not a luxurious land yacht with all the bells and whistles; it's one that is frequently seen on the highway, so I went to my local dealer to find out what the model name is. The motor home was a Fleetwood. The car being towed was small, not a full-size model, but I don't know what make it was. I also wasn't shown any license plate on the car. With a great deal of help from several Godly friends, here is what has been deciphered: Deborah: From Deuteronomy, the red heifer in its entirety was sacrificed outside the camp, then the ashes were mixed with water and used to ritually purify the altar, other implements used to minister to the Lord, and the people who were to minister to the Lord or who had become ritually unclean. Without the red heifer, the Temple and worship were unacceptable. David: The motor home is a mobile tabernacle prepared to go into the wilderness. The fuel for the motor home is a derivative of oil, which represents the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The anointing of the Man-child comes at the beginning of the wilderness as it was with Jesus and Moses. Like Moses and Jesus carried Israel through the wilderness to the Promised Land, this motor home is carrying this car through the tribulation. The motor home is powered and steered by the Lord Himself. Like many immature Christians, the car in tow has no driver yet and it cannot steer for itself. The motor home, as the Man-child has to steer it. Like many weak Christians, the car's power is not being used. As it was in Jesus' time, so it will be in ours. The license with the red heifer symbolizes the legal, scriptural right, by virtue of a crucified life, to lead others through the wilderness on the highway of holiness. Like the red heifer, the corporate Man-child will have presented his body as a living sacrifice. His old life will be burned up on the altar of fiery trials. The ashes of this purified life will be mixed with water, which is the Word of God, making a fully mature son of God. The heifer is facing to the right, symbolizing East, or the direction of the coming of the sun or Son in his life. This life will then be the wisdom and direction used to purify the altar for the rest of the remnant to be sacrificed in the wilderness. There, they will learn to submit to their driver and be steered with power from God. Our way of life is coming to a fast stop at the edge of the coming wilderness. Deborah: The model of the motor home, Fleetwood, also confirms this. We find the words “flee”, “fleet”, and “wood” indicating wilderness. However, an RV is not an off-road vehicle. Pro.16:17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul. Isa.11:16 And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. Isa.35:1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose ... 8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called, The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. Deborah: I was asking the Lord why the motor home, representing the first fruits, was so large, and the car, representing the remnant, was so small in comparison. I got that the faith of the relatively few first-fruits was that much bigger than all the faith of the greater number of the remnant. David: It's true. I once ministered to a Presbyterian lady who got filled with the Spirit and then left her church. She had a dream of going to three houses and when she knocked, harlots answered each door. After that, at the next house, I answered the door. I asked her how many religions she had been in before coming to us. She said three. It was at this time that she received deliverance from the religions of men. Then she had a vision of me being a giant. I told her it was because I had outgrown the doctrine she was now receiving from me, a long time ago. In the same way, the first-fruits will be big. Jesus delivered, healed, and brought truth to more people than all the Pharisees put together. He was and still is big. R.S.: The crude oil that comes out of the ground needs tons of refining into gasoline or diesel before it's usable by the earthy, natural man. Man's soul is also in dire need of the refined life of the Spirit in order to become a vessel fit for His use. Isa.1:25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and will thoroughly purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin. Zec.13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; and they shall call on me, and I will hear them; I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, The Lord is my God. Dan.12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. Mal.3:17 And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in the day that I make up my jewels, and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son, that serveth him. Deborah: Also, the two highways which intersect: Highway 176 = (5) grace; and Interstate 26 = (8) new beginnings. I was encouraged by them that the remnant would be given the grace they need when the time comes to quickly flee to the new beginnings of the wilderness.
Our Spiritual Growth (1) (audio) David Eells – 6/3/26 Glory of a Child Peter - 03/04/2008 (David's notes in red) In a dream, I found myself sitting at the side of a road, on the curb, and it was gloomy and dark. There were two gray wolves or beast-like creatures with massive fangs that subtly approached me from behind. (The beasts or wolves represent wicked men: (Luk.10:3)... I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves. (Ecc.3:18)... It is because of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as beasts.) They tried attacking me, but I don't remember if I tried to fight them off. What I do remember is that I ran into a dull red mini caravan, which so happened to be on the road, for protection and safety. (The van may represent a means of mobility having protection and safety. The dull red color represents the blood of Jesus.) As I was shutting the passenger door, one of the beasts lunged at me, but I managed to slam the door on it. (Enclosed in the blood) As a large portion of its body was caught in between the closed door, it suddenly morphed into a naked man inside the van (I could only see the upper body). This man had streams of blood running down from all over his body. (The persecutors wear as their works the blood of the saints. Eze.22:4 Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed, and art defiled in thine idols which thou hast made.) During the entire time, I was panicking and fearful for my life and trying to survive. (David: As I have meditated on this dream, I see that the first man above is the natural man who is in total fear of losing his old life at the hands of the wicked. His reactions are natural but not based on the Word. The man below is the spiritual man, who is 'Christ in you' and whose actions are based in the Spirit and faith in the blood of Jesus. Together these make up who we are. We can choose to be led by either man, but the latter preserves life and promotes the Kingdom of God in and around us, making us safe. A confirmation that these two men are Peter, is that they are both sitting upon the curb.) Then my attention was suddenly drawn outside the van to a child who was sitting on the curb. (Mar.10:15) Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein.) He had a large volume of golden curly hair. (Golden hair represents submission to the Lord [1Co.11:3-16] which strengthens us and sets a crown of glory upon us. (Jdg.16:17)... if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. The blessings of the Lord, riches, honor and life [Pro.22:4] are set upon His people as a crown of fine gold [Psa.21:3]. The child was sitting curled up in a ball (Representing humility and weakness; (2 Cor.12:9)...my power is made perfect in weakness.... (Jer.13:18)... Humble yourselves, sit down...), with his arms wrapped around his knees and with only his eyes to be seen. His eyes were emphasized, and I believe they were large and beautiful. (This represents spiritual eyes. (Son.4:1) Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; Thine eyes are [as] doves behind thy veil... Doves represent seeing as the Holy Spirit does. We must see that we have been saved and sanctified. (2Pe.1:3) seeing that his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that called us by his own glory and virtue). The lower part of his face (chin, mouth, nose) was tucked in behind his knees. (When attacked, we are not to defend ourselves by speaking foolishly. (Ecc.5:2) Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. (Isa.7:4)...Take heed, and be quiet; fear not.) He was innocent and harmless. He was clean. (He represents Christ in you, the spiritual man.) After I had finished observing, I noticed the same two beasts sneaking up behind him. At this point, there was no awareness of the man being in the van. (The spiritual man is not in danger and gives us a good example that we should not be in fear.) As I was still locked in the van for my own protection, I was filled with fear, yelling and screaming from the top of my lungs, trying to warn the child that he may run into the van. (Fear and anxiety, both a reflection of unbelief, only locked or bound me in the van. I was without any peace; I only had uncontrollable fear and anxiety. We must give in to the spiritual man and hold fast to the Gospel). I was hitting the window of the van to get his attention. He acknowledged me but didn't make the slightest movement, just sitting very still. (Exo.14:13)... Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you to-day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.) The beasts lunged at him, and there was still no movement on his part. The beasts were trying to bite him, but they couldn't get a grip. Their teeth were sliding off him. The beasts swung their claws at him, but there was no critical damage, only tiny scratches on the child, which were brought to my attention. (Innocence and submission to the Lord are his defense. (Pro.10:2)... righteousness delivereth from death.) Again, I was aware that I was still in the van, but I was also outside in the child's presence. The child still remained in the same sitting position as I had described and remained still for the entire time. He said nothing and didn't react in any way to defend himself. The beasts couldn't harm him. (Mat.5:39) ...resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.) Suddenly, I looked behind this scene, and I noticed in the distance a small white house on a green grassy mount. (The house the spiritual man lives in is Christ [Heb.3:6]. We are to abide in Him, the Word, the secret place of the Most High.) In front of this house, there was a woman in a white robe inviting me, or beckoning, to partake of something. (The Bride's invitation to partake of the protection of resting in the (Psa.91) Passover by abiding in Christ.) The dream ends. I had the impression, maybe during or after the dream, that this lady looked like my Godmother (I come from an Orthodox Christian religion). Peter's Interpretation The woman in the white garment/robe who resembled my Godmother may very well be reflected by: (Pro.6:20) My son, keep the commandment of thy father, And forsake not the law of thy mother. The commandments of the Father, based on the New Testament, are life eternal (Joh.12:50), to believe in the name (meaning in Greek: “nature, authority, and character”) of Jesus Christ and love one another (1Jn.3:23). (Of course, the Word defines the steps of love.) I find that these commandments are united to be the same with one another. The law of the mother, based on the New Testament, is the law of faith (Rom.3:27), law of the Spirit of life (Rom.8:2), and the law of Christ (Gal.6:2). Like the commandments, these laws are the same with one another and can be united. Based on the order of events of the dream, I believe the child represents a manifestation and the fruit of the law of faith, of the Spirit, and of the commandments of the Father. All of these are certainly Christ. The child's characteristics and nature reveal the principles of living by faith and the Spirit of life in Christ, which are one with the commandments of the Father. If we submit to the Lord, remain humble, restrain our tongue, and see through our spiritual eyes or senses, we will be walking in Christ, fulfilling the spiritual laws (of faith and of the Spirit of life) and the commandments of the Father. All these spiritual laws are represented by the woman in the white robe who appeared to be my Godmother. She is associated with the white house on the grassy hill or mount. It may have seemed she was inviting me to partake of what was in the house, which is Christ. Just as that little child is associated with the woman, he must have been partaking from that house as well. If the woman represents all the spiritual laws and the commandments of the Father, she must also represent the spotless, blemishless Bride who is in perfect obedience to the laws and commandments of the Father. The Bride is the Word of God, who has manifested Jesus Christ. Her white robe must represent the righteous acts of the saints (Rev.19:8). The righteous acts are works of faith -- walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh. The child and the Bride are one nature because they manifest the wisdom of God, the Word of God; hence, Jesus Christ. Only as a 'child' can we enter the kingdom (Mar.10:15) and only those who walk in the Spirit. Those who are likened unto a child walk in the Spirit. One verse can describe this dream: (Exo.14:13) And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you to-day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. Whenever we are in tribulation or trial of any form, we should fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. Use our imagination, see it spiritually, believe what the Word says about you. Rest. He has already saved you. Humble yourself, and He shall never forsake you because He is your Father. A father never forsakes his child (Psa.18:2; 94:12-14). (Mat.7:11) If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Thank you, Father, for Your grace and love! I pray that this dream has helped you renew your mind and imagination of who we truly are in Christ. May God bless you all. Fighting the Old Man Eric - 10/11/2006 (David's notes in red) In a dream, I was in a classroom, and an old man was teaching the class. (We can't let the old man teach, which in Christianity is most often the case. The class includes ourselves and all who associate with us.) He said to the class, “I don't like that Eric guy. I'm going to challenge him to a wrestling match.” (If we let the old man speak through us, he will gain confidence and strength against us and he will bring us under the curse.) Then he got up and came over to my desk and, looking down on me, said a second time, “I challenge you to a wrestling match”. He was about 7 feet tall, so I followed him outside. (The giant of our old life will challenge us and lead us into battle.) I noticed that nobody in my class was interested in watching the fight. (Most onlookers don't even know the battle between the spirit and flesh is going on inside us.) When I got outside, everything seemed deserted like a ghost town so we walked over to a playground. (As far as man is concerned, we are all alone in this battle.) We began to fight, and he threw a wild right swing at me and missed. (The right side symbolizes spirit, and the arm symbolizes power. This is a fight of spiritual power; the evil spirits in our flesh against the power of the Holy Spirit within us, joining together with our spirit.) I swung back with an uppercut, but missed his jaw because of his height. Then he got me in a headlock but I broke free and grabbed him in a headlock, and he also broke free. (The flesh and spirit taking turns controlling the mind is a double-minded life.) Then we separated and began to circle each other like two wrestlers. We cried out as warriors would cry in a battle and smashed into each other as two sumo wrestlers, but being equally matched in strength, we were both unable to get an advantage. We wrestled like this for what seemed like an hour, and finally we disengaged from each other, very exhausted. (In order to win this battle we must repent of our sins and confess them, which conquers the old fleshly man. 1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Then we must believe the promises of our crucifixion and life in Christ, which strengthens the spiritual man. Without this, there will be no spiritual victory, only exhaustion. (Gal.2:20) I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me...) Looking over, he said to me, “I think this is a draw”. Replying, I said, “I think you are right”, so we both proceeded back to the class, and he announced to them that the battle was a draw. (We can't afford to believe or speak that there is a draw for this leaves us unevenly yoked to the old man in a lukewarm life.) He then said arrogantly, “Eric stood up to me, but I have friends in high places, and I'm going to bring trouble for Eric; you wait and see!” (Gal.5:17) For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would.) Suddenly, I found myself walking in a city I've never seen before. Somehow, I understood I was walking to my house. I remember the whole city was white, both buildings and cars, but the people walking around were dressed in black. (The unseen “kingdom of God has come nigh” but the people are walking in darkness.) When I arrived at my house, police lines were blocking my way. All manner of law enforcement officers were there. (If we don't beat the old man but leave him in control of the class, we break God's law and have to pay the penalty.) One who appeared to be in charge came up to me and asked, “Are you Eric?” I answered, “Yes, I am, but sometimes I'm not sure”. (We never really know who we are until the old man is dead.) He then said, “You are evicted, and you have to walk around in the street”. (The carnal man has taken over our house.) So then I looked toward heaven and cried out, “Lord, what am I to do without a house?” Then the dream ended. (This is a good teaching the Lord has given to us through Eric. We either put to death the old man, or we eventually lose controlling interest in this house we call a body, and maybe even the house we call a home. A more primitive lifestyle, enforced by the beast, is coming to the Church as a whole because of this lukewarm draw.) In Weakness We Win M.W.- 10/14/2008 (David's notes in red) In a dream, I was at a football game. I was part of a team. We were wearing white jerseys, and my teammates were younger kids, for the most part. I remember thinking when I saw my younger teammates, We are going to get killed! The field was on a hill, and it seemed like we were at a higher elevation. As we approached the field, I saw a sign that had the opposing team's name on it. The sign read “ASU”, which is Arizona State University, but during the dream, I didn't think about that; I just noticed “ASU”. If you look up their mascot, you will find that it is the Sun Devils; it is a picture of a devil with a pitchfork. So it was us versus the ASU Sun Devils. Right before the kickoff, I remember being very anxious and again thinking that this might not go well. At first, the field was muddy because I remember our uniforms having some mud on them. We received the ball first and, on a series of plays, marched down to the end of the field of the Sun Devils. I remember that as we moved toward their goal line, it seemed like I was a lot bigger than the ASU players. On the last play that scored the touchdown, I remember thinking, 'Should I play quarterback and maybe throw the ball?' Instead, it was a running play, and I was running just ahead of the running back blocking. It was interesting because I was a grown man, and it was like I was blocking little kids. I blocked several opposing players during the last play, and we scored. It started raining about then, and the Sun Devils forfeited the game. The score was 7-0. After we scored, we were so excited, and it was disappointing to see them forfeit, but it was a relief in a way. I remember watching the last van loaded with gear pull away in the rain and head down the hill. Many are wondering just before the big tribulation game against Satan's fearsome team, how such a small, weak, and immature-looking bunch on God's side could possibly survive, much less win. God's “power is made perfect in weakness.” “Not by might and not by power but by my spirit, saith the Lord.” It is “by my Spirit,” or another way to say it, it is the rain, the Latter Rain, and our weakness that will cause the enemy to forfeit the game. Remember Gideon's army, which God whittled down to 300 men so that in their weakness they would take on an army that was said to be, “like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is upon the sea-shore for multitude.” And what was God's reasoning? (Jdg.7:2) And Jehovah said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. (3) Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from mount Gilead. So, children are the best to go against the enemy like little David went before Goliath. (Mat.18:3) and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. (4) Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. We must be children in our own strength but wise beyond our years in God's strength. (1 Cor.14:20) Brethren, be not children in mind: yet in malice be ye babes, but in mind be men. (Eph.6:10) Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. (11) Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (12) For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual [hosts] of wickedness in the heavenly [places]. (13) Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. (14) Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (15) and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (16) withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil [one]. (17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: (18) with all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. The Battle begins... My daughter had a dream, too. She and her grandmother were on a big roller coaster ride, which, in the natural, is scary and goes up and down, which represents the conditions many are about to endure. In the dream, I went up into a tower that overlooked a city. (Zion is called “the tower of the flock” and represents the Bride who will be over the rest of the people of God, as in Esther.) She said that I had a very serious look on my face. I was watching over the city, which I was charged to do by the military. (God's Generals will set watchmen for the enemy.) She joined me in the tower, but later she did go back to the roller coaster. The people in her dream were barefoot. (The Church will return to her primitive roots by not departing from the original Word given. Like Moses, they will take off their shoes to not be separated from Holy Ground.) The Lord Shows His New Models Amos Scaggs - 12/07/2008 (David's notes in red) In a dream, I was in a large showroom of a national car company. They were planning and redecorating for a promotion that would be so spectacular it would top any that had been done in the past, and it would keep escalating once it started. (The Lord is about to come out with His new models to show everyone what they, too, can drive. I believe the first-fruits Man-child ministry will be this demonstration. Jesus appeared to show what regeneration looked like.) I had my work done and books organized on my shelves, waiting to see what was going to transpire from this. (We've done the studying and put it in order. Now we are waiting to see what the Lord will show.) I knew it was going to be the biggest thing the world had ever seen, and it was only the first part of the year. I thought, since this is so early in the year, what will the end of the year look like? (The words, “What will the end of the year look like?” implies that something great will grow from this. The baby is born but matures quickly. Many models will be duplicates, symbolizing a revival. In Revelation chapters 12 & 14 the 144,000 man-child body will be duplicates of Jesus to do the greater works He spoke of.) As I was wondering what to do next, I met the Governor, whom I knew. (Jesus will govern from the throne in His earthly body of end-time Davids in a repetition of His-story. (Isa.9:6) For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (7) Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even forever. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.) As I was concerned about what to do next, the Governor said, “Don't worry about a thing. Watch me and you will be doing the same things as I do very soon.” (The Governor is a role model and is coming in His Man-child company to be a role model for others to follow in His same steps. (1Jn.2:5) but whoso keepeth his word, in him verily hath the love of God been perfected. Hereby we know that we are in him: (6) he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked. The Governor said, “This is what I have planned; this is the beginning”. (The words, “this is the beginning,” imply many vehicles will be produced like these models, meaning a revival will spread from here.) I also thought I had something to do with the Buick showroom. David Buick was an inventor and also formed the Buick Mfg. Co. He and William Durant formed the Buick Motor Co., which is now known as General Motors. Durant was a productionist, and Buick was a perfectionist. Buick left the company in 1906 (because it fell short of his expectations) and died broke in 1929. Had Buick been able to keep his shares in 1921, he would have been worth $10 million and today it would be incalculable. Kind of reminds me of Jesus. (He was also a perfectionist, desiring quality not just quantity in His models. He was disappointed in the direction the early Church took and lost His shares in it. He lost out to the productionist's assembly line Christianity mentality.) Buick was quite the ingenious type who had it all but died broke and still formed a new thing that no one had seen before (but we will see Jesus' new thing again very soon :0). Invincibility in Jesus G. W. - 11/20/2010 (David's notes in red) I was in a dream where David Eells and I were in the same house. He was explaining to me that we can get into a car crash and nothing will hurt us. I understood him to be teaching about faith. He then said, “Let's go down this hill to try it out”. We both agreed that we would get into this white truck. It began rolling violently down from the top of the hill. We both were outside of the truck cab in the bed -- I was in the front, and David was toward the back. All of a sudden, we both flipped off. David went backward, and I went forward. As it approached me, the nose of it was facing the ground while the bed of the truck was in the air. I knew that the back section was coming right at me, but I had plenty of time to get out of the way. Instead, I just lay there and watched this disaster come toward me. The whole weight of the truck came crashing down on my midsection. As I looked down, I wondered if this truck had cut me in two, but I felt no pain. David came over and pulled me out from underneath. I stood upon my feet, completely whole. David said, “It can't hurt your rib cage”. Naturally speaking, this seemed impossible; however, I realized that I never felt fear as the disaster unraveled. I had been given a dream very similar to this about invincibility a couple of years ago. Jesus and the Two Witnesses had this gift until it was their time to go. Jesus said, “No man takes my life; I lay it down”. We truly have God's protection if we abide in Him, just as Psalm 91 says. So this is not just a gift to the Man-child but something the Davids, as Man-childs, will teach to the saints, as the dream above appears to say. Some will enjoy this until the Lord comes. This invincibility can take many forms. Around the time of this dream, I was driving home from a meeting at night. I wasn't particularly sleepy, just slightly. As I got close to my house, I suddenly found myself waking up out of a sound sleep, seeing headlights bright in my face. Without thinking, I jerked the wheel to the right and swerved quickly into my own lane, just in time to miss the oncoming car. I was amazed that I could have been asleep at the wheel because I didn't even remember feeling tired enough to have to fight it off. I realized that this was supernatural and that the Lord had shown me that He would protect me without my even knowing about it. It was seconds before it would have been too late to miss a head-on collision. I also noticed, as G.W. did, that I never felt fear. After receiving G. W.'s dream, my daughter, Deborah, and I were on the porch swing talking. It was a common bench-type steel swing. It had a chain coming down from a wooden frame on each end of the bench to an S-hook. From there, a chain went to the front bottom of the bench, and another went to the back top of the bench on each end. As we spoke, I was suddenly thrown backward on my back on the deck, but my head slammed into the metal top of the AC unit, which was off the deck, but the top stuck up about six inches higher than the deck. It was with such force and noise that one would have thought my neck would have broken or my head crushed. On my side of the bench, as one chain held the front bottom, the other that held the back came out of the S-hook. This caused my side of the bench to flip violently backward. My daughter was holding on to her side with her legs wrapped around the bench seat. When she heard the noise and saw me down there, she asked, with big eyes and loudly, “Are you all right?” As I reached up to brace her, I was surprised to be able to say, “I'm just fine”. I then laughingly said, “The Lord said He would give His angels charge over me, lest I dash my foot against a stone, but He didn't say anything about my head”. She asked again, “Are you sure you're alright?” I said, “I'm sure”, as I reached back to feel the back of my head and felt no pain nor even a bruise. As I stood up, I realized that indeed the angels had perfectly protected my head and neck, which easily could have been broken. I never felt any fear, just joy. My daughter said, “There is no blood on the back of your head”. I said, “There isn't even a bruise”. As I began to examine the bench and chain, I saw something even more supernatural. The chain that came loose was in perfect shape, like new, with no wear and no broken links. It was the kind of chain most often used on swings. Each link had a partner, and they were stitched in the middle so that if one link broke, it was still tied to one more link. I was amazed to see there was no broken link. Naturally speaking, this would mean the chain had to come out of the S-hook. However, I examined the S-hook, and it was still closed in the S where the chain was missing. “WOW”, I said, “this is supernatural”. The chain could not be put back in the S because it was still closed up, so I grabbed a screwdriver to spread it open so the chain could be reinserted, but I could not pry it open at all; it was too thick to bend. So I put the S next to the post that held the swing and hammered the screwdriver into the S to spread it so I could put the chain in it. I had to drive it in about 3/4” to get it open enough. How did the chain get out of the S-hook? Only supernaturally! I thought, either the devil just tried to kill me and failed due to Father's faithfulness, or the Lord was just showing me He was keeping me safe. I am sure both were true. I indeed had been in a crash, and the Father kept me perfectly. PTL! By the grace of my God, I have been shot at, at close range by a professional assassin, but my angel slapped the bullet down as he told me. The one who sent the assassin confirmed this. In a wreck, I was thrown from a car going 70 mph, slid about 70 feet on concrete without a scratch, with witnesses. My tractor flipped on the side of our mountain and was going to roll, but impossibly straightened back up with me still in the seat. I believe in Father's guardian angels! More recently, Michael and I were unhitching a back blade, a heavy piece of steel, from the tractor. I got off the tractor and was standing about 15 feet from the blade. Michael was on the other side releasing it, and supernaturally it came flying very fast straight at my head. It hit me right on my nose with force and knocked me back another 10 feet to the ground. Michael said he knew I was dead, but to his surprise, I jumped to my feet like nothing had happened. I told him that what I felt was a finger on my nose pushing me to the ground very fast. My angel, no doubt. In the natural, because of the speed at which it came at me, I would have been dead anyway, but I never felt any pain or incurred any damage. Some of this was because the faction had come together to throw witchcraft at me, but failed. Many of them are dead now. Do you find it hard to believe that spiritual powers, good or bad, can take authority over the natural laws, as seen with this S-hook, my head and neck? Many have been learning that they have authority over physical laws concerning the body and laws of nature, through faith and the spoken Word. In the testimony section of our site are multitudes of testimonies of the saints' healing machinery, bodies, cars, and other physical things, changing weather, changing minds, etc. Jesus taught His disciples to take authority over the laws of nature and to teach others to do so because they are not under the curse. (Gal.3:13) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (14) that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Mar.11:23) Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass; he shall have it. (24) Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (And repent of any sin so you will have power.) (25) And whensoever ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any one; that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. (26) [But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your trespasses.] Jesus commanded His disciples to make disciples of all the nations and teach them to obey all things He taught them, even unto the end. (Mat.28:19) Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations ... (20) teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Now we, as His disciples, must teach disciples to obey all the teachings of Jesus and take authority over the physical laws of the curse to proclaim the Gospel. Amen.
☞ ABOUT THIS MESSAGE Through Abraham's test with Isaac and the heroes of Hebrews 11, Jim revealed that fearless faith means choosing to trust God over our anxieties when obedience seems impossible. Like Moses abandoning palace luxury or the Israelites marching through the Red Sea, these champions acted before seeing God's provision. Jim's challenge: surrender what you're clinging to, leave your "Egypt" of partial obedience, and take your next step without waiting for guarantees. Stop waiting for evidence before trusting God. Your fearless faith journey begins with one question: Will you bet on God's invisible future and take that step today? ☞ BIBLE APP NOTES https://www.bible.com/events/49614093 ☞ GROUP LEADER GUIDE https://page.church.tech/484b4825 ☞ NEXT STEPS
Establishing Our Path! “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5–6 As we venture through the twists and turns of life, we are reminded of the profound truth found in Proverbs 3:5–6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart...” But what does it mean to trust? It is to let go of our control, to relinquish our doubts, and to step forward, hand-in-hand with the Almighty. Like Moses leading the Israelites through the parted Red Sea, we are called to journey forward into the unknown, believing that God will guide us through every challenge we encounter (Exodus 14). In the depths of uncertainty, God's presence becomes both our compass and anchor. That's why Psalm 119:105 is not just for the grand choices of life; it extends to our daily decisions, suffusing even the mundane with His purpose. Just as Moses received direction amid chaos, we, too, can find solace and assurance in trusting God to illuminate our paths and lead us toward the extraordinary plans He has for us. Psalm 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." From Isaiah 48:17 standpoint, it shows that "The One who made the road also tutors our steps, guiding us toward what truly benefits us." God desires not just to guide but to establish our path — a path filled with hope and purpose. When we lean into His guidance, we are empowered to walk boldly into our calling, with faith igniting every step. Our journey, grounded in trust, becomes a testimony of His faithfulness, inspiring others to seek the way of the Lord. Today, let's open our hearts to the divine orchestration of our lives. Reflect on the moments when God has intervened and redirected your course. Those instances are sacred reminders that He is intricately involved, leading us with purpose and grace. As we surrender our worries and embrace our faith, we find that our paths are not just established; they are transformed! Amen. Psalm 32:8 says, "I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will give you counsel and watch over you." Amen. Prayer for the Day!Heavenly Father, we come before You filled with gratitude for Your unwavering guidance. Thank You for promising to direct our steps and illuminate our paths. Guide my steps today, Lord; establish my path according to Your will. May Your presence fill each moment as I trust in You. Strengthen my faith, and help me to walk boldly in Your light. In Jesus' name, Amen. https://maglife.orghttps://maglife.org
Steve DeWitt If You Like Moses, You'll Love Jesus Hebrews 3:1-6 The Moses Series Donate to Support The Journey
Harvest Bible Chapel Pittsburgh North Sermons - Harvest Bible Chapel Pittsburgh North
Introduction: What About Spiritual Gifts? (1 Corinthians 12:1-11) Spiritual Gifts are FROM God and FOR Every Believer. (1 Cor 12:4-6) Spiritual Gifts Are to Be Used to BLESS the CHURCH. (1 Cor 12:7) Spiritual Gifts Come in Many FORMS. (1 Cor 12:8-10) 2 Corinthians 12:12 - The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. Hebrews 2:4 - while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. Wisdom Knowledge Faith Healing Miracles Luke 9:1 – And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases Prophecy Distinguish between spirits Tongues Interpretation of tongues Spiritual Gifts Are Given at the HOLY SPIRIT'S DISCRETION. (1 Cor 12:11) SEEK God. Consider the INTERSECTION. Take an ASSESSMENT. Take the Spiritual Gifts Test! Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Questions and Answers: What About Spiritual Gifts? Jeff Miller Download Audio Transcript 00:38Open up your Bibles with me, please, to the book of 1 Corinthians 12.00:45While you're turning there, let's just pause for a second, and I'm going to ask that you would please pray for me00:53to be faithful to communicate God's Word accurately and clearly as I should.01:01And I will pray for you to be open to receive what it is that God said. All right, let's pray. Father, sometimes we come to your word and I guess some passages seem to hit some of us more than others. And we're about to enter into a section that according to your word literally is for every single one of us. So I pray.01:31That Your Spirit would be the power behind the wisdom of Your Word and that You would continue to conform us into the image of Your Son, not just individually, but as a church body. Father, glorify Your name as we immerse ourselves into Your Word now. We pray in Jesus' name and all of God's people,02:02Amen. Look at 1 Corinthians 12, verse 1. Paul says,02:07Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.02:18This section of 1 Corinthians has been a big Q&A section.02:25They had sent Paul questions and he was responding with answers.02:28And up to this point, we've mainly been dealing with earthly matters. We've been talking about liberty and marriage and gender. And now we're on to more, I guess you could say, spiritual matters. And he says, concerning spiritual gifts, look at that verse 1, I do not want you to be uninformed. I don't want you to be ignorant about spiritual gifts.02:58Spiritual Gifts. Wow, that's a phrase that really describes the church today. Right? Because as always, church, we will go to either side of the extreme. When we talk about spiritual gifts, immediately you're going to have some people on one end of the spectrum that just completely neglect or ignore them. And think, oh, that's just like,03:28Goofy, charismatic stuff, but we're like sober-minded people. You completely dismiss the role that the Holy Spirit has in the work of the church. They're just neglected. And we do church according to human intellect and creativity. And then you have people on the other end of the spectrum that don't neglect the gifts. You could say they misrepresent the gifts of the Holy Spirit.03:58And over on the other extreme, people are doing all kinds of goofy things in church saying that it's a work of the Holy Spirit. We're slain in the Spirit and we're hooping and hollering and barking and howling. It's a gift of the Spirit. Excuse me. Absolutely essential in your work for Christ. Absolutely essential04:28in the health of the church, in the health of this church, you have to understand what spiritual gifts are, and you have to use your spiritual gift in the church. All right, look at verse 2. He says, you know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to mute idols. However, you were led. What he's doing here is he's setting up a contrast.04:58by idols.05:00And we're going to see this as we go throughout this section,05:03but the Corinthians in their former pagan lifestyle05:07learned a lot of bad methods of worship.05:11Pagan methods of worship.05:13And they brought those into the church.05:15Like, I guess this is how we worship.05:17And Paul here is making the contrast.05:20Like, look, no, no, no.05:22You used to be led by idols.05:24Now, now you are led by the Holy Spirit of God.05:30The Holy Spirit. Somehow, despite how essential His role is in the church, He just doesn't seem to get the press that the other members of the Trinity get, right? I mean, we talk about Jesus a lot. His sacrifice on the cross for our sins. His resurrection from the dead.05:58We talk about God the Father a lot. But God the Holy Spirit, just is essential. The Bible says that every Christian, every born-again Christian receives the Holy Spirit. That's Romans 8 and 9, among other places. That's God's presence abiding in you. Why? Why does God's Spirit live in you? Well, there's two main reasons. One is for character, right?06:28The Holy Spirit manifests the character of Christ in you. That's the fruit of the Spirit. That's Galatians 5. That's love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That's what the Holy Spirit does in the life of the believer manifesting those characteristics. So it's character. The other reason the Holy Spirit lives in believers is for service.06:58And that's what we're talking about in this passage today. Every believer is given a spiritual gift to be used in the church. And you're like, wow, you know, how do I know that I even have the Holy Spirit? Well, look at verse 3. Paul says, therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says,07:28Jesus is accursed. And no one can say, Jesus is Lord, except in the Holy Spirit. So how do you know you have the Holy Spirit? Here's a foundational test. How do you regard Jesus? And I don't just mean what do you say about Jesus here in church on Sunday morning or at small group. I mean in your heart, in your innermost being privately,07:58How do you regard Jesus Christ? In your heart, is Jesus Christ everything to you? Because your true heart disposition towards Jesus is manifest by the Spirit. If you're born again, Paul says, you cannot curse Jesus. And apparently some of that stuff was happening in the Corinthian church. That's a whole other study for another time.08:28Paul says, if you have the Holy Spirit living in you, you absolutely will regard Jesus Christ as your Lord. The Holy Spirit. He's not just for preachers and missionaries, by the way. The Christian life, every Christian's life, is a Holy Spirit-led and empowered life. So the question that Paul's getting into here, and Pastor Taylor's going to be talking about this more next week, here's the question on the table.08:58They asked. He's answering, so what about spiritual gifts? I mean, what are spiritual gifts? And how is it that the Holy Spirit uses spiritual gifts in the church? So on your outline, what about spiritual gifts? What about them? Paul's giving us a great foundational teaching on Holy Spirit gifts.09:28Number one, write this down. Spiritual gifts are from God and for every believer. Look at verses four through six. He says, now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit. And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord. And there are varieties of activities,09:58is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. He says there's many kinds of spiritual gifts, but notice he says they all come from God. And he really wants to make that point clear because you notice he mentioned every member of the Trinity as being the source of spiritual gifts. You notice that? He talks about the Holy Spirit in verse 4. He talks about Jesus Christ, the Lord, in verse 5. He talks about God, the Father,10:28in verse 6. Spiritual gifts are gifts that come from God. Now, understand that spiritual gifts are different than talents. Okay? Like a skill that you have to play an instrument or to paint a mural. Spiritual gifts are different, but listen. I can show you biblically, and that's a study for another time.10:58come from God. Absolutely.11:03But here we're talking about ministry gifts.11:06Church ministry must be Spirit-powered, not done in the flesh.11:15Why?11:19Because if we're just doing ministry in our power, in man's power,11:25we're going to get man's results.11:27But when ministry is done in God's power, we get God's results. So which do you want? At the end of the day, I want to see what God can do in this church, not what I can do. But you notice the end of verse 6, beginning of verse 7, to everyone, to each. Listen, because every Christian possesses the Holy Spirit, all Christians, all Christians are given a spiritual gift.11:59It's so fascinating because every gift is a characteristic of Jesus Christ Himself. You realize He had everything perfectly. Think about that. Jesus, God in the flesh, who embodied every characteristic perfectly. You see the Holy Spirit giving us a spiritual gift. What's going on here? Here's what's going on. The church is called the body of Christ.12:29And each member is given a gift so that collectively, we as the body of Christ become a sort of representation of Jesus Christ himself. It's absolutely mind-blowing. But God wants the church to be Christ-like, and this is how it happens. We each use our spiritual gift. We're collectively built up in all of the characteristics that Jesus Christ possessed perfectly in the Incarnation.12:57So, spiritual gifts from God for every believer. All right, number two, spiritual gifts are to be used to bless the church. Look at verse 7. He says, to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For the common good.13:28It's kind of funny when you think about it. You're given a spiritual gift, right? But in a real sense, the spiritual gift given to you isn't even for you. Isn't that strange? God's given you a gift, but He goes, oh, that's not for you. That's for everybody else. You see, my spiritual gift is supposed to benefit you.13:57benefit me.14:01And that's why we believe in every member of ministry at Harvest Bible Chapel.14:05If you're attending here, if you consider this your church,14:09we're not shy about asking where do you want to serve.14:15Not because we're like, we need help.14:18We do need help.14:21But that's not the primary reason.14:24It's because if you're part of the church, God has gifted you to bless the church. Right? So I have to ask you, how is God using you in this church? How's God using you? If you've been given a gift that's for the common good, how is that working in your ministry?14:55Now look, I've got to tell you, we are so blessed at this church. We were talking about this not too long ago, but we have a crazy high percentage of people who are actively serving in this church in so many ways. We're not there yet, but that number needs to be 100%. And if you're attending this church and you're not serving, please hear me.15:26I just want to lovingly tell you that God hasn't called anyone to warm a seat. Nobody's spiritual gift is attendance. We need you to be using your spiritual gift for the common good. All right? So spiritual gifts are from God for every believer. Number two, spiritual gifts are to be used to bless the church.15:54And number three, spiritual gifts come in many forms. Here's where we need to spend some time. In this section here, Paul lists nine spiritual gifts. Now, this list is not exhaustive, okay? Actually, we're not going to look there today. We're going to stick in this passage as is our custom. But you can see also Romans chapter 12. You can see Ephesians chapter 4. There are other gifts than the ones that are listed.16:24here. This isn't exhaustive. This is more just representative. Spiritual gifts come in many forms. Let's look at verses 8-10. Paul says, for to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit.16:54To another, faith by the same Spirit. To another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit. To another, the working of miracles. To another, prophecy. To another, the ability to distinguish between spirits. To another, various kinds of tongues. To another, the interpretation.17:24of tongues.17:27Alright, so with spiritual gifts there are two categories.17:31There are speaking gifts and there are serving gifts.17:35But there are also two kinds of gifts.17:38There are permanent gifts.17:40There are gifts that were given that will be active in the church until our Lord returns.17:46And there are gifts that are temporary that were only for a time and purpose.17:51And this is where we get controversial.18:00Because this is where a lot of people have a lot of different opinions. But are you ready to go to Sunday school for a few minutes? Three of you? Okay. Thank you. Tristan always has my back. Always. And some of you are like, I don't know if I want to get out of here.18:23this road. Well, we're going through 1 Corinthians. This is next. And we receive God's Word as presented, right? So let's do it. But I want to talk about temporary gifts. And please hear me out before you storm out. That door's hard to slam, but it can be done. Before you storm out, before you throw anything at me, I would like you to please hear me out for a few minutes, all right?18:53Because this isn't my opinion. This is what the Bible says if you read it straightforwardly. Temporary gifts, sometimes they're called sign gifts. Those are the more miraculous type gifts. Please hear me because this is where I'm going to be misquoted, but not you. Listen, those gifts are not normative today.19:23Do I believe that they still happen? 100% I do. But they are not normative. Okay? So if somebody's like, well, what is Jeff's position on some of these sign gifts? I do not believe that they are normative today. I'm going to show you why. Can God do them? Yes. But, listen close. These sign gifts, are these spiritual gifts19:53that are possessed by people in the day of Paul and the apostles. And the answer is no. They're not possessed by people as they were in Paul's day. God still does them on occasion, not normative, but they're not possessed by people. I want to talk about miracles for a moment. Pastor Taylor and I were talking about this last week.20:23I think when we read the Bible, we get this idea that miracles were just like happening all the time, right? Like Moses woke up and like before his oatmeal, he like fired off five miracles. Boom. Not a man a meal, not oatmeal. But actually miracles in the Bible were actually very rare.20:53And apart from Moses' day, and apart from the day of Jesus in the apostles' ministry, miracles performed through men were actually very rare things. So why did we see so many miracles, especially in Moses' day, and especially in Jesus' and the apostles' day? Because this is why.21:21God performed miracles through people to verify or prove when new revelation was given. That's why it was normative in Moses' day. That's why it was normative for the apostles. Because God was giving new revelation, and that was the way He verified it. Any knucklehead can run around and say,21:51this is the new word of the Lord. And like, how can you prove that? Anybody can say that. God would verify what is actually revelation from him by backing it up with people who were giving not just this message, but performing these miracles. That's why you see that in Jesus. Why did Jesus perform so many miracles? Why did Jesus perform miracles? He's putting on a show, right?22:21He wanted to dazzle people, right? Hey, check this out. Check out what I can do. Anybody got two fishes, five loaves? Let me show you a trick. No! Jesus wasn't an entertainer. Why did Jesus do all the miracles? Actually, He referred to them as signs. Why? Because they were done to prove He is who He said He is. He's like, I'm God in the flesh. And of course, you're going to have people that were like, pfft.22:51I'm not buying that. But when you see this man raising the dead, healing the sick, feeding multitudes, you're like, there's something more to him. Right? Jesus' signs proved he is who he said he is. You're like, awesome, but what about spiritual gifts? Well, same principle here. Listen, to back the apostles'23:21while the New Testament was completed, was being completed, God authenticated the gospel with sign gifts. That's what the Bible says. You're like, where does the Bible say that? Many places. I'll give you a couple. Okay? Like 2 Corinthians 12. Look, the signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience with signs and wonders and mighty works. You see?23:51the true apostles were performing miracles. It was to authenticate the gospel message. Same thing in Hebrews 2.4. It says, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will. Same principle as God was giving us the New Testament. You see, in those days, they didn't have the New Testament completed yet.24:21was being worked on by the Holy Spirit. So when somebody got up and said, let me tell you this message from God, how do we know it was from God? He backed it up with miracles. That's why when you go through the book of Acts, you see miracles less and less and less and less as you go through the book of Acts. We spent like three years in Acts, and that's what you see. In 1 Corinthians here, the book that we're studying, it was one of the earliest24:51written. So sign gifts were still very much a thing when Paul wrote this, but they were on their way out and they were ending as normative spiritual gifts when the New Testament was completed. That's why in none of the other epistles you see any talk about the spiritual gifts of miracles or healings or tongues or interpretation of tongues. You don't see that in any other25:21book in the New Testament.25:25Because it was phasing out.25:28We have God's word complete in written form,25:31so we don't need to verify it with a miracle.25:35God wrote it all down for us.25:37All right?25:39So, with that backdrop, I'm going to go through these quickly.25:44Each one of these could be a sermon,25:45and that's not the intention.25:49Interestingly, Paul does not explain them. He just lists them. I want to give you a little definition for each, a little understanding. So look at your spiritual gifts here, starting in verse 8. The first one is wisdom. What is wisdom? That's just skill in applying the Word of God. Do you know who typically possesses this gift are people that are counselors, whether it's formally or informally, people that are able to say, I understand how to incorporate God's truth.26:19into my life.26:21I can help you incorporate God's truth into your life.26:23It's applying the Word of God.26:24That's wisdom.26:26Next is knowledge.26:30That's understanding the Word.26:34It's somebody that can see Bible facts and knows how they fit together.26:39You know what's amazing?26:40Did you ever see these Christian authors?26:43They take like one subject and they write a whole book about it.26:46That's always amazing to me.26:48Like, how do they do that? They wrote a whole book about one subject? Well, I think a lot of them have the gift of knowledge. Right? Next is faith. Gift of faith. Now, obviously, this is faith beyond believing to get saved, because every follower of Christ has that kind of faith. Right? But you ever notice that there are some Christians that you meet that just seem to have a deeper,27:20Confidence in the Sovereignty of God. You know what I'm talking about? There's some Christians you meet, they could be going through just the worst trials a human being can go through, and they're just like, you know what? God's in control. He's got this. And they're just completely unflappable. They have the gift of faith. Those people are typically the best prayers. Right? Next on the list.27:48is healing.27:51Now again, I believe that this is one of the gifts27:55for people that was phasing out at this point.28:01But what is healing?28:02Well, it's just supernaturally healing a physical illness.28:12I wish I had that gift.28:14I wish it was still a thing.28:17And you might say, well, Pastor Jeff, I think it is still a thing. Because I saw this guy on TV. He was slapping people on the head deaf and they were getting up with full hearing. Interesting about those people, they never go to the cancer ward or the children's hospital. I mean, if I had the gift to heal people, that's the first place I'd go. You're like, oh, so you don't believe in healing? Oh, yeah, yeah. Look, listen.28:47Let's be clear. God still heals. I believe that 100%. And I have seen in this church God miraculously heal people. I believe that God heals. I'm not convinced that Benny Hinn ever did. All right? So next is miracles. Miracles. Like, wait a minute. What's the difference between miracles and healing? I'm not going to bore you with the long systematic Thompson Chain reference.29:17But here's the thing. That word for miracles, when you trace it through the New Testament, was most often connected with casting out demons. That's the difference. That's the distinction. See, that's what Jesus was talking about. Look at Luke 9.1. We'll have it on the screen. It says, and he called the twelve together, look, and gave them power and authority, here it is, over all demons and to cure diseases. So miracles.29:47In the New Testament referred to casting out demons. Again, I believe that was an apostolic era. Do I believe God still does that 100%? Absolutely, yes, He does. Normative? That a person has the gift and is running around doing that? No. All right, next is prophecy. Prophecy. Now, when we think prophecy, when we hear that word, what's the first thing we think of? Like future stuff, right?30:17Tell us the future. Well, sometimes, actually rarely, that's part of it. But you realize that's not what prophecy literally means at all. Do you know what the word prophecy is? It literally breaks down to a compound word that means speak before. You're like, speak before what? Speak before an audience. That's what prophecy is. It's somebody that stands in front of a group of people and says things.30:47Before Them. That's prophecy. It's the public speaking of God's truth. That's what happens when I get up here, Taylor or Brian or Justin or whoever stands up here proclaiming the Word of God. That is prophecy. We are speaking before. Right? Next is distinguishing between spirits. If you're interested, we did a whole sermon series on this.31:17A couple years back, this is what we more commonly call discernment. It's the ability to evaluate if something is from God or not. And in that sermon series, I'm not going to preach it all now, but I'd just like to remind you that that is something that we are all called to do. We are all called to discern what is from God and what is not from God. And again, I'll remind you that we live in a day that it is more crucial than ever because we live in a day where we have access to more information.31:47than we've ever had. You open up your phone, you're going to have 10,00031:51preachers giving you contradictory31:54message about31:55thus saith the Lord. How do we know31:57what God actually said? Discernment32:00is the gift to be able to32:01tell, he's not saying what God32:03said, but this guy definitely is, right?32:05Right?32:10Some people have that gift.32:13Alright, next gift is tongues.32:18Next gift is tongues.32:21You're like, are tongues for today?32:26People ask that, are tongues for today?32:31Yeah, tongues are for today.32:32How would you eat your ice cream otherwise, right?32:38Listen, I'm not going to go too far into this.32:42Oh, you're scared? No, not at all.32:43We're actually going to be doing a very deep dive in this. We're spending four weeks on this subject. But what is tongues biblically? Tongues is the ability to speak in a foreign language unknown to the speaker. It's a known language, by the way. It's not gibberish. It's somebody speaking an already existing language that that person doesn't know. They're just speaking it. Like I said, we're going to spend so much more time on this. And then interpretation of tongues is just simply that.33:13a person that was gifted with the ability to translate what the tongues speaker says. Many forms. One spirit. Oh, speaking of the Holy Spirit, number four. Spiritual gifts are given at the Holy Spirit's discretion.33:47Look at verse 11.33:52He says,33:54All these are empowered by one in the same Spirit34:01who apportions to each one individually as He wills.34:09As He wills.34:11The Holy Spirit, in His sovereignty, determines who does what. That's the Holy Spirit's job. Understand, as your pastor, I did not get to choose your gift. Like, oh, you want to be a part of our church? All right. Prophecy. Okay, how about you? You want to join the church? All right. Healing. You're like, you totally didn't listen to that sermon, did you? I don't get to determine that gift.34:41get to determine that gift. You know what? Preaching looks like a lot of fun. I think I'm going to ask the Holy Spirit for the prophecy gift. He is the one who determines the gift. It is a gift. And the gift giver determines the gift that he wants to give you. The gift giver determines the gift35:12that he wants to give you.35:19And I know this is a hard sell in our day.35:23I mean, Murph, you get it. You go back. We get it.35:27The gift giver determines the gift he wants to give. We get it. The younger people don't get that.35:33Like, why not? Because you know what we do in our day?35:38You know what we do in our day? We have a big event.35:42We have a baby shower, a wedding, little Joey's birthday party. He's turning five. Going to have his party at the Chuck E. Cheese. Do you know what we do today? We tell people what gifts we want, don't we? We do that. Little Joey's turning five. He's registered at Target. Right? Right?36:10Or, yeah, I'm getting married. Yeah, I'm getting married. Yeah, I'm registered at Target. We tell people the gifts that we want. I'm getting married. I want this toaster. I want this knife set. I want this vacuum. And then, I mean, we've done it. Aaron and I will go and be like, okay, this is the vacuum they want.36:40and we buy it and we wrap it up. And then they act surprised when they open it. They open it up and they're like, oh, you got me exactly what I was asking for. Oh, you shouldn't have. But you go back a generation, the gift giver determined what gift you got. Don't try that with the Holy Spirit, okay? You're baptized.37:11I'm registered at Target.37:15Well, we don't get a say in it.37:17It's His gift, right?37:19It's His gift.37:19Do you think I would have signed up for this?37:25Oh no.37:26Oh no.37:30He'll make a better choice than we would anyways.37:33Alright.37:35That's all well and good.37:36But that's really not the question37:39that we're asking right now.37:40The question that we're asking right now is how do I know what my spiritual gift is right I mean it's clear he's given all of us each of us a gift to represent the body of Christ and we're to use it in the common good we saw the kinds and you're like awesome what is my spiritual gift how do I find out what my spiritual gift is all right I'm going to give you three things we're going to close with this three things how do I know what gift I've been given letter A seek God38:10You're like, that sounds like a cop-out. No, look. If you make your life about on-your-face praying and in the Word and just get serving in the church, the Spirit's going to do what the Spirit does. He's going to be at work through you. You're going to figure that out real quick. So just don't worry about seeking a gift. Seek the gift giver. He'll do what He does.38:40That's what he does. Seek God. All right? Letter B. Consider the intersection. Like, what's the intersection? I was studying for this this week. I came across something. I thought it was super helpful. It's one of those diagrams where everything intersects. What do they call that? A Venmo diagram?39:10Venn. Not Venmo.39:20What's a Venmo?39:23Oh, that's giving money.39:26Also a spiritual gift. Right!39:30So you could Venmo your...39:31Alright.39:33I just feel like I had like an inception moment here.39:37Alright.39:38Consider the intersection.39:39Yeah.39:40All right. So I came across this Venn diagram. And I thought it was helpful. I'm going to try to recreate it here. But there's three things here. First of all, this circle here, we're going to call that, we're going to call this one ability. We're going to call this one ability. What is it that you seem, not complicated,40:10You seem like you're able to do this. Right? Of all the gifts. You're like, you know what? That's something that I seem like I'm able to do. I mean, I'm not boasting or anything. It just seems like something that I'm able to do. Okay? And then, with this one, we're going to call this one affinity. That's an idea. Okay. That's affinity. Like, well, that's an idea. Like, what do40:40I enjoy doing.40:42If somebody was like, you can do whatever you want in the church, whatever you enjoy most,40:46what would be the line I get to the front of first?40:50What's my affinity?40:53And then the third thing here, my circles are getting less and less circle-y, but I think you get the idea.41:01This one we're going to call affirmation.41:12You know, you have people maybe in your small group or other people in the church that are, they say to you, you know what? You seem like you have a real gift for teaching. You really seem like you have a gift for praying with people. So the point is this. Consider the intersection right here.41:39This is very likely your spiritual gift. I would say extremely likely. What you're able to do, what you love doing, and what people affirm that it seems like God has equipped you to do, that is very likely your spiritual gift. All right? Then letter C, assessment. Seek God, consider the intersection or assessment. We have a QR code.42:10Go ahead, take your phone out and give that a scan. Pastor Rich sent this along. But this is an online assessment. And really, I think between seeking the Lord, considering the intersection, doing the online assessment, I think that's going to get you all on your way to giving you a deeper understanding of what your spiritual gift is. So go ahead. Go ahead, do the...42:41Either scan that or Venmo me some money. Since you have your phone out and I just learned what Venmo is. Do I have a Venmo? Never mind. Aaron says I don't have a Venmo. All right. Our worship team would make their way up. While they're coming, you know, when I was in high school, I played soccer.43:11In my junior high year of playing soccer, the coach didn't like me. Why? Because I was unlikable. So I sat on the bench most of the season. Now, I knew I had the ability.43:39senior year, we had a new coach, and I didn't sit for one minute that entire season. In fact, I was co-captain of the team. But I got to tell you, I think back to that junior year of playing soccer, and I just remember feeling incredibly frustrated because I felt incredibly useless. You know, you put your shin guards on, you put your cleats on, you put your44:09your soccer uniform on.44:12And you just, I just sat there and watched the whole season.44:16Just sat there.44:21So many times I thought, why am I even here?44:25Why am I even here?44:26What am I doing?44:29I want to tell you, you don't have to worry about that with God's team44:34because there are no bench warmers.44:39God doesn't tell any of His children, you know what? You're nice and all, but you go sit over there. We don't really need you. Or you just wait, and if we decide there's a place we can squeeze you in, we'll see if we can do that. No, no, no, no, no. God's Word has made it very clear that He has called and He has gifted every single one of you.45:08this church. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, so often we get a gift and we don't say thank you, but Father, we thank you not just for the gift of your Holy Spirit himself who lives within us, but the gift that he has given each of us to serve you and your church. For some people here, Father, this is probably brand new teaching.45:38Never really considered this. And for some people here, Father, maybe we've known this and have sort of strayed from it. But I'm asking today, Father, that your Spirit would grip every heart in this church and grip the church collectively so that we truly, as the body of Christ, might represent the person of Christ.46:08as these spirits are at work in us. So Father, I pray for the person here who maybe has been coming to this church but just hasn't stepped up. Remind them, Father, it's not just a matter of the elders and pastors and ministry team would value your input. Remind them, Father, that you have equipped them to serve your church.46:38We do so to your glory and honor. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Small Group DiscussionRead 1 Corinthians 12:1-11What was your big take-away from this passage / message?What does it mean that spiritual gifts are for the common good (1 Cor 12:7)?Are sign gifts such as healing and miracles still possessed by people today? Why or why not?Why is it important to understand that the Holy Spirit is the One Who chooses what gifts believers receive (1 Cor 12:11)?How do you know if a ministry is done by the power of the Holy Spirit, or done in the flesh (that is, just by “human power”)?BreakoutPray for one another.
Steve DeWitt If You Like Moses, You'll Love Jesus - Part 2 Hebrews 3:1-6 The Moses Series Donate to Support The Journey
Steve DeWitt If You Like Moses, You'll Love Jesus - Part 1 Hebrews 3:1-6 The Moses Series Donate to Support The Journey
We often treat the term “Immanuel" as a seasonal word reserved for Christmas cards, but the concept of “God with us” is actually the fundamental characteristic of God from the first page of Scripture to the last. We began a new journey into Practicing Presence by looking at the three ways our Father moves toward us.First, He moves toward us when we hide. In Genesis 3, when humanity falls and hides in the trees, God doesn't stay on a distant mountain or wait for us to climb back up to Him. He enters the garden and asks, "Where are you?" Second, He moves toward us when we hurt. In Exodus, God tells Moses, "I have seen... I have heard... I know... and I have come down." Our God doesn't just offer sympathy from a distance; He descends into the "brick pits" of our lives. Finally, He moves toward us when we hunger. Like Moses in Exodus 33, we are invited to refuse "the gift without the Giver." We don't just want the Promised Land; we want the Presence. The Gospel isn't a story of us climbing up to God; it is the strange and beautiful story of a Father who has already come all the way down to walk with us and be present with us. Support the show
Topical Sermons / Speaker:Berry Kercheville “Behold I Am with You Always” Introduction: From ancient times God gave us an identity. He called us the offspring of Abraham who would bless the world (Genesis 12; Galatians 3:29) He said we would be a “kingdom of priests.” Exodus 19:5-6; “ …you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' Cf. 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. He prophesied in Zechariah 3:10, “In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.” How Can We Do What Seems Beyond Our Ability? Like Moses, we readily say, “Who am I that such a great work should be placed on my shoulders?” First, remember Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” Matthew 28:18-20 can you imagine what is was like for the apostles when Jesus told them he was leaving? It is evident by the fact that Jesus repeatedly encouraged them the night before his death. 2 Corinthians 5:16–6:1 He has made us a new creation, giving us the ministry of reconciliation, entrusting to us the message of reconciliation as ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. Therefore (6:1), we are “working together with him…” The fact that he has given us this ministry so that we can work together with him, indicates a partnership. In other words, we are not doing this on our own. Training of the 12: With Every Command, Jesus Is There Mark 4:35-41 Stilling the storm. As we serve the Lord, unimaginable obstacles will arise…where is your faith? Mark 6:7-13 Sending out the twelve (limited commission). When the Lord gives “unreasonable” commands, where is your trust? Mark 6:30-44 Feeding the 5000. When what we have is not enough, do we trust he will supply what we don't have. Mark 6:45-52 Get in the boat and go to the other side. When we have seemingly used all our strength, do we trust him to bring us the rest of the way? Conclusion: Our strength and resources will never be enough—but it isn't our strength that matters—it is his. Luke 17:1-6 Berry Kercheville The post Evangelism: The Lord with Us appeared first on Woodland Hills Church of Christ.
In this lesson, we consider the Muslim claim that Muhammed is the prophet like Moses rather than Jesus. Note: the audio is not our best product. We do apologize for that.
Watch or listen to author and ordained minister Rev. Aaron Miller being interviewed by CBS Ambassador, Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling. In this episode, they discuss faith, calling, worship, and Christian witness in a busy and uncertain world. Drawing on Scripture, lived experience, and his books, Aaron explores why repentance and forgiveness sit at the heart of the gospel, and how worship forms us into a different way of being human.In this episode, Aaron and Andrew discuss:Growing up in a clergy household and his early faith formation.Aaron's call to ministry and how it relates to the calling of Moses.Aaron's new book, Weird in the World: Living Towards the World God Wants, which addresses the distinctiveness of Christian life in a secular world.How Aaron stays spiritually groundedWhen ministry starts to feel like too much, what role does Scripture playRead the transcript: https://biblesociety.ca/transcript-scripture-untangled-s13-ep2 =====Rev. Aaron Miller is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada. He serves University Hill United Church, in Vancouver BC, and is the denominational Campus Minister at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of two books, Witnesses of These Things: Faithfulness Here and Now, and Weird in the World: Living Towards the World God Wants. He is currently pursuing a PhD in New Testament Studies, at the Vancouver School of Theology, in partnership with the University of Pretoria. Aaron lives in Vancouver with his wife Kate, and their teenaged sons.Canadian Bible Society: biblesociety.caHelp people hear God speak: biblesociety.ca/donateConnect with us on Instagram: @canadianbiblesocietyThe Bible Course: biblecourse.ca
This exploration of Exodus 2 reveals a transformative truth: God's redemption requires us to be drawn out of our self-reliance and into complete dependence on Him. We journey with Moses from his miraculous preservation as an infant to his failed attempt at being a savior through his own strength. The message confronts our tendency to see ourselves as the main characters in our salvation story, when in reality, we are assistants to God's greater plan. Moses spent forty years in Pharaoh's palace and another forty years in exile, all because he tried to redeem his people through murder rather than waiting on God's timing. This narrative challenges us to examine what false heroes we've erected in our lives—our status, our homes, our abilities—and invites us to let God strip away everything that gives us a false sense of security. The beauty of this message lies in its honesty about suffering: God doesn't promise immediate deliverance from every hardship, but He does promise His presence and ultimate redemption. Like Moses being drawn from the water, we are called to be drawn out of our comfort zones, our sinful patterns, and our self-sufficiency so that God's glory can shine through our weakness. The gospel requires only repentance and faith; obedience flows naturally from these, not as a means to earn salvation but as fruit of genuine transformation.
In this powerful teaching, Pastor Joseph Davis explores the concept of God's sovereignty in the midst of human suffering. Using the life of Simon Peter as a backdrop, Pastor Davis explains that while the enemy desires to "sift us as wheat," God has already prayed for us in advance. The message challenges listeners to shift from a worldly perspective to an eternal one, realizing that God doesn't just watch our pain—He reigns over it. -- God is more interested in the endurance of your faith than the comfort of your circumstances, often allowing testing to prove your faith is genuine. -- Staying "on your toes" is a spiritual necessity, providing the agility and flexibility needed to move forward even when the enemy tries to shake your foundation. -- Your setbacks are not surprises to God; He often calculates the rebound and the comeback before the trial even begins. -- Like Moses or Job, your perceived weaknesses or losses do not disqualify you from being used by God; rather, they provide the stage for His strength to be made perfect. -- The "deformity" or chaos in your current situation is not the end of the story, but the starting point for a divine turnaround. Scriptures for Further Study -- John 20:21-22 -- 1 Peter 1:1-9 -- Luke 22:31-34 -- Genesis 1:1-2 +++++++ Pastors Joseph and Robbin Davis Follow Us https://www.facebook.com/truthgatherers/ Ways to Give Cash App: $truthgatherers www.easytithe.com/TGDC Text to Give - Text the amount to (850) 898-9848
God's promises are always yes and amen—they give us hope, peace, and confidence no matter what's happening around us. But the greatest promise isn't what God gives—it's His presence. Like Moses, we shouldn't just want the blessings… we should want God Himself. When we truly pursue His presence, it changes us, sets us apart, and reminds us—He's not just with us… He lives in us.
God's promises are always yes and amen—they give us hope, peace, and confidence no matter what's happening around us. But the greatest promise isn't what God gives—it's His presence. Like Moses, we shouldn't just want the blessings… we should want God Himself. When we truly pursue His presence, it changes us, sets us apart, and reminds us—He's not just with us… He lives in us.
God's promises are always yes and amen—they give us hope, peace, and confidence no matter what's happening around us. But the greatest promise isn't what God gives—it's His presence. Like Moses, we shouldn't just want the blessings… we should want God Himself. When we truly pursue His presence, it changes us, sets us apart, and reminds us—He's not just with us… He lives in us.
How does Deuteronomy end? Deuteronomy 34 looks forward to the hearing of God's Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord's Day. In these twelve verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Deuteronomy ends, looking forward to Christ. The devotional presents a meditation on divine purpose, faithful service, and the ultimate hope found in Christ. It centers on Moses's final moments—granted a vision of the Promised Land he cannot enter, an example of the partial yet meaningful participation of believers in God's eternal plan, even when full fulfillment lies beyond their lifetime. The transition to Joshua, empowered by the Spirit through divinely appointed ordination, affirms the biblical doctrine of ordination as a sacred, Spirit-empowered calling rooted in God's Word, not human preference. Yet the passage culminates in a transcendent expectation: no prophet has arisen like Moses, but the true fulfillment of all prophecy is found in Jesus Christ, Who alone knows God face to face, performs divine signs, and accomplishes redemption through His atoning sacrifice and resurrection. Thus, the entire narrative points beyond all human instruments to Christ as the sole source of hope, the author and finisher of God's redemptive work, and the ultimate object of faith.
The Ten Minute Bible Hour Podcast - The Ten Minute Bible Hour
John 1:15-18You might like to get some copies of The Lightning-Fast Field Guide to the Bible for yourself and for others - here's a link that gets TMBH a little kickback: https://amzn.to/4pEYSS9Thanks to everyone who supports TMBH at patreon.com/thetmbhpodcastYou're the reason we can all do this together!Discuss the episode hereMusic by Jeff Foote
Open doors without God’s presence lead nowhere worth going. Today on BOLD STEPS, Mark Jobe shares a convicting message from Exodus 33 about the most important companion for life’s journey. Like Moses, we must realize that success without God is actually failure. Hear what it means to say, “If You don’t go, I won’t either” ... listen to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe Bold Steps Gift: Keep the Faith-Dr. David JeremiahBecome a Bold Partner: https://www.moodyradio.org/donateto/boldstepsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We should follow his example of leadership. We should learn the importance of obedience. We should grow into greatness.
Did God Send Me Here to Fail? by Autumn Dickson Moses was a prophet who delivered the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. He was such a good prophet that the Jews held him up as a standard for a long time. He is still revered as a great prophet. And yet, despite his righteousness, his closeness with God, his foreordained role, Moses didn't know everything. Moses was incredibly nervous to approach Pharaoh about freeing the Israelites, and the first time he approached Pharaoh, it didn't go so well. Pharaoh did not release the Israelites. In fact, Pharaoh gave all of the Israelites more work to accomplish than they previously had. This led to the Israelites getting frustrated with Moses, and in turn, Moses turned to God. Exodus 5:22-23 22 And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all. Moses asks the Lord a few questions and makes some points that I think all of us have made at one point or another. “Why did you send me? I just made it worse. You said You would deliver them, but they're still in bondage and Pharaoh has made things harder on them.” There is a lot we could unpack there. Moses' insecurity about his ability to do the job would be a good place to start. We could discuss the fact that Moses could only see his own limitations rather than the Lord's plan in motion. However, I want to take a slightly different angle that I mentioned earlier. Moses, despite his calling and the big job ahead of him, didn't see the end from the beginning. He saw enough that he was willing to begin, but the Lord left out quite a few details about this long road that Moses would travel before he could be an instrument in the hands of the Lord in freeing the covenant people. The Lord loves to leave out details. Why? If the Lord has made a decision in relation to how He works with His children on earth, there are solid reasons behind that decision. Why does the Lord choose to leave out details? Why does He allow us to sometimes think we've failed? What purpose does it serve to push us to wait for the next step? What reasons do you see? One of the reasons is because we would probably get confused and lost and disillusioned anyway. The Savior tried telling His disciples that He was going to die and live again. He said it quite clearly, more than once, but they were still so surprised when it happened. If the Lord had told Moses more of the details, would he have grasped the plan? I think a more important reason is the fact that it forces us to cling to Him. If Heavenly Father had given Moses a play-by-play of what would happen in Egypt, how much would Moses have connected his success back to the Lord? How often would Moses have turned back to the Lord? It is very difficult to see the Lord's hand when we are not turning to Him over and over and over. When it comes to the Lord, it's never just about the task that's been given. The task always has a double purpose of drawing us closer to Him. One of the most effective ways of drawing us closer to Him, is to force us to keep coming back to Him, to work closely with Him. This brings great comfort when we look at our own efforts and tasks. Like Moses, it's easy for us to decide that we're the weak link. We're not strong enough or smart enough or persuasive enough. We're the reason everything failed. Moses is not the reason the task failed. Moses was just under the impression that the task was supposed to be easier than it was. The Lord could have explained this in great detail ahead of time to spare Moses this despair. However, it would have negated His purposes of keeping Moses close. It had to be this way. The Lord needed you to have the task. Telling you in detail ahead of time would have made it really easy for you to forget Him and try to do everything on your own. It was important for you to stay close to Him, and He knows our propensity to wander. So He chose to do things this way. Unfortunately, sometimes we also have the bad habit of despairing when we hit obstacles. The Lord knows this, and He can work with it. It is much easier to work with your despair when you turn to Him than it is when you run off and try to do things on your own. The Lord is wise enough to see all of this and make the decision to leave out the details. So how can this change our response when we do hit obstacles in the tasks we've been given by the Lord? We trust Him and know He's not finished yet. Even when we do not know the details, He does. He is plenty aware of them and knows how to work with the children of men. Give it your best shot, and look to Him with faith. That's your real job. It wasn't Moses' job to deliver the Israelites, not really. It was Moses' job to be willing. It wasn't Moses who sent the plagues or parted the sea. It was the Lord who made man's mouth and made the seas. The Lord knew exactly what He was getting with Moses, and He still decided on Moses. It is no different with you. The Lord knew what He was getting when He asked for you. He knows better than you know what you are or aren't capable of, and He decided on you. When you run into unanticipated obstacles, there is no need to despair. He didn't tell you about this part, but He knew about this part. Your job is to be willing. Give it your best shot, and look to Him with faith. The Lord can still work with despair; He worked with Moses through His despair. He can work with us through despair. However, the faith part serves us. Moses didn't ever have to be afraid or upset that he had ruined everything. Those feelings were necessary so that Moses could go through the process of building his faith, but faith changes our entire experience by changing our perspective. Obstacles look different in the light of faith in Christ. It is a joyful way to live. Trust the Lord. Trust Him when He doesn't give you all the details. Trust Him that He chose you for a reason. Trust Him so that you can rejoice even in the faith of setbacks. I testify that the Lord knew what He was doing when He chose you. I testify that He knows all of the details even when He doesn't share them all immediately. I testify that He isn't despairing or mad when obstacles appear. All He wants is our faith. He deserves our faith. He has earned it. He is worthy of it. Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR's 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Exodus 1–6 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.
Zachary Cargill shares a strong message to fix our eyes on Jesus and not live distracted by the noise of this world. Like Moses and the burning bush, there are powerful encounters with God waiting for those who stop, turn aside, and give Him our full attention. Zachary shares that our affection follows our attention, and if our focus is pulled toward lesser things, our hearts will slowly drift from the Lord. These are days to seek God diligently and refuse to let distraction rob us of His presence and our destiny in HIm. Now is the time to wake up, look to Jesus, and respond while His invitation is before us!Our heart at Celebration Church Rarotonga is that this message will greatly bless your walk with Jesus and help bring you closer to Him. We pray that you would be stirred to live a life that is passionate about loving Jesus!We would love to hear from you! Connect with us through the links below:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/celebrationraroInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/celebrationchurch_rarotonga/Website: https://www.celebrationrarotonga.com/
What if your movement today wasn't about burning calories… but about coming back home to God? In this steady-state workout, Alisa Keeton, founder and CEO of Revelation Wellness, invites you into a pace that is sustainable, honest, and present. Keep your effort level above a 5—steady, intentional, consistent. Because when we move, we're telling our brains we're not stuck. We stir up energy. We remind our bodies we are not powerless. Today's workout is simple: If you're moving, you're doing it right. A Transparent Invitation Alisa comes to you today a little thin in her soul—honest, open, and anchored in truth. This episode is an invitation to gaze at God. Like Moses, when we do, our faces shine. "Our soul does not find rest until it rests in God." – St. Augustine As your body moves in steady rhythm, your spirit is invited to settle. Biology marries theology here. Movement meets meditation. Effort meets surrender. Today's Scripture Meditation We are taking one verse and letting it go deep—encoded into brain and body. Not a sweet treat you taste and forget, but meat. Substance. Sustenance. Something you can chew on long after this workout ends. Today's prescription comes from:
What if your movement today wasn't about burning calories… but about coming back home to God? In this steady-state workout, Alisa Keeton, founder and CEO of Revelation Wellness, invites you into a pace that is sustainable, honest, and present. Keep your effort level above a 5—steady, intentional, consistent. Because when we move, we're telling our brains we're not stuck. We stir up energy. We remind our bodies we are not powerless. Today's workout is simple: If you're moving, you're doing it right. A Transparent Invitation Alisa comes to you today a little thin in her soul—honest, open, and anchored in truth. This episode is an invitation to gaze at God. Like Moses, when we do, our faces shine. "Our soul does not find rest until it rests in God." – St. Augustine As your body moves in steady rhythm, your spirit is invited to settle. Biology marries theology here. Movement meets meditation. Effort meets surrender. Today's Scripture Meditation We are taking one verse and letting it go deep—encoded into brain and body. Not a sweet treat you taste and forget, but meat. Substance. Sustenance. Something you can chew on long after this workout ends. Today's prescription comes from:
"What makes life worthwhile is having a big enough objective—something which catches our imagination and lays hold of our allegiance; and this the Christian has in a way that no other person has. For what higher, more exalted, and more compelling goal can there be than to know God?"- J.I. Packer (Knowing God)“I have witnessed, time and time again, two people in the same gathering come away with completely different experiences. One had a burning bush moment, leaving with a heart warmed and transformed, while the other left cold and unchanged, with no worthy takeaway save for an opinion of the worship and a score for the preacher. “- Alan Frow“The only person who dares wake up a king at 3:00 AM for a glass of water is a child. We have that kind of access.”- Tim Keller“Spiritual formation is a process of being formed in the image of Christ for the sake of others.”- Robert Mulholland (Invitation to a Journey)Chekov's Gun:“One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn't going to go off. It's wrong to make promises you don't mean to keep.”Excuse 1: “Who am I?” (3:11)Excuse 2: “What do I say?” (3:13)Excuse 3: “What if they don't believe me?” (4:1)Excuse 4: “I'm not gifted enough.” (4:10)Excuse 5: “Please send someone else.” (4:13)“This final excuse was not so much an excuse as it was Moses' desperate plea to pass the responsibility to someone else. He was out of excuses. Every one of his questions had been answered in stunning ways. Now he basically said, “Here I am, send someone else.”- Tony Merida“Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses…” (4:14)# Reflection Questions:- Where are you resisting God in your life?- Where are you letting insecurities, fears, doubts and a lack of trust in God hold you back from what He is leading you too? - Where is your past determining what God can do with your future?- Like Moses, if the layers are pealed back, where do you see that actually you are just saying “No” to God?The answer to Moses' insecurity isn't more self-confidence.It's more confidence that God's presence is with him.
Like the Great Head of the Church, from whom it springs, it “cannot be hid.” “Every tree is known by his own fruit.” (Luke 6:44.) A truly sanctified person may be so clothed with humility, that he can see in himself nothing but infirmity and defects. Like Moses, when he came down from the Mount, he may not be conscious that his face shines. Like the righteous, in the mighty parable of the sheep and the goats, he may not see that he has done anything worthy of his Master's notice and commendation: “When saw we Thee an hungered, and fed Thee?” (Matt. 25:37.) But whether he sees it himself or not, others will always see in him a tone, and taste, and character, and habit of life unlike that of other men. The very idea of a man being “sanctified,” while no holiness can be seen in his life, is flat nonsense and a misuse of words. Light may be very dim; but if there is only a spark in a dark room, it will be seen. Life may be very feeble; but if the pulse only beats a little, it will be felt. It is just the same with a sanctified man: his sanctification will be something felt and seen, though he himself may not understand it. A “saint” in whom nothing can be seen but worldliness or sin, is a kind of monster not recognized in the Bible!For more information about this group, please visit their website at reformationboise.com. Every weekday at 3:30 am and 7:30 am you can listen to The Gospel for Life on KSPD 94.5 FM and 790 AM Boise's Solid Talk in the Treasure Valley, Idaho, USA. If you have a question, comment, or even a topic suggestion for the Pastors, you can email them. Phone: (208) 991-3526E-mail: thegospelforlifeidaho@gmail.comPodcast website: https://www.790kspd.com/gospel-for-life/
Hearing the story of someone's miraculous encounter with God sometimes can sometimes feel unrelateable. Hearing Moses' story probably feels utterly impossible to match! But what if God is looking to invite us all into just as intimate and powerful a relationship as He had with Moses? What if God's progressive revelation in our own lives parallels that in Moses' experience, and the experience of anyone who has ever listened for the voice of God and passionately pursued His presence? What if the Holy Spirit is still a "burning bush", a pillar of smoke and fire, a voice from heaven, and the mouthpiece of God? What if God is calling you...even you...into your purpose, renaming, worship and identity? Perhaps you and Moses are not all that different after all?
Find out how the Exodus shows Jesus to be the Messiah
Fear doesn’t disqualify us from being used by God—it often marks the starting point. This Christian devotional explores how Moses transformed from a hesitant, fear-filled man into one of the most courageous leaders in Scripture, revealing how God grows faith through daily dependence. Rooted in Deuteronomy 34:10–12, this devotion offers hope for anyone longing to move from insecurity to confidence in Christ. Moses didn’t begin his calling with bold faith. In fact, he pleaded with God to choose someone else. Yet over time, as he repeatedly turned to the Lord instead of his fears, God shaped him into a leader marked by courage, intimacy with God, and unwavering trust. His story reminds us that spiritual growth isn’t instant—but it is possible. Highlights God often calls people who feel unqualified and afraid Moses’ courage was developed, not instant Faith grows when we consistently turn to God in moments of fear Fear deepens when we dwell on problems; peace grows when we seek God’s presence True confidence comes from intimacy with Christ, not personal strength God’s power is revealed most clearly through surrendered hearts You don’t have to stay stuck in today’s insecurity Do you want to listen ad-free? When you join Crosswalk Plus, you gain access to exclusive, in-depth Bible study guides, devotionals, sound biblical advice, and daily encouragement from trusted pastors and authors—resources designed to strengthen your faith and equip you to live it out boldly. PLUS ad free podcasts! Sign Up Today! Full Transcript Below: From Fearful to CourageousBy: Jennifer Slattery Bible Reading:Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. - Deuteronomy 34:10-12, NIV. Today’s passage, when understood in light of Moses’s full story, assures me that I can start afraid and end as a confident, influential, and powerful woman of God. While I’m nowhere near as faith-filled and courageous as I long to be, I’m encouraged knowing that I don’t have to remain stuck in today’s fear and insecurity. That’s not to say I expect my journey toward peace to feel easy or simple. Nor do I anticipate a smooth, linear trajectory where all fretting and overthinking steadily decrease day by day. Unfortunately, I’m much too inconsistent for that. The more I follow the examples set by the heroes of faith, however, the greater my intimacy with Christ, understanding and reliance on His truth, and trust in His care. You see, whenever I read Moses’ legacy, so beautifully preserved in Deuteronomy 34, I can’t help but think back on the man revealed in Exodus 3 and 4. If you’re familiar with the Old Testament, you might remember his not-so-courageous response to his awe-inspiring and miraculous encounter with God Almighty. After forty years living as a Prince in Egypt, he killed a man and fled to the land of Midian, where he remained as a fugitive. Perhaps assuming he’d forfeited whatever dreams he’d once held for his future, he soon settled into his new life, where he spent his time as a family man tending his father-in-law’s herds. Then one long, quiet, monotonous day, something captured his attention—a bush that kept burning without turning to ash. As he stepped closer to investigate, the voice of God Almighty called out from the foliage, engaging him in a life-changing conversation. The Lord told him that he’d heard the desperate cries of His enslaved people and was sending Moses to set them free. Understandably, this ignited anxiety within Moses. God responded through a series of miracles that displayed His power and authority, but this wasn’t enough to still Moses’s quaking heart. His fear of Pharaoh, the earthly ruler the Lord wanted him to stand against, was so great that he actually told God no, stating, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else” (Ex. 4:13, NIV). Eventually, however, he obeyed, and in the decades that followed, developed an unshakable faith able to withstand an approaching army, a militant raiding people group, constant complaints and revolts from those he led, near stoning, betrayal from his siblings, and all the hardships that came with wondering, for four decades, through an inhospitable wilderness enroute to an unknown land. What strikes me most, however, is the stark contrast he portrays compared to his fellow Hebrews. Like Moses, they began doubtful and afraid. Unlike him, they remained stuck in their unbelief and fear. Moses, on the other hand, grew so faithful and courageous; today’s passage memorialized him as, at that time, the greatest prophet known to man. Clearly, the difference wasn’t in their circumstances. He and they endured the same hardships and witnessed the same miracles. It also wasn’t in their makeup. He and they were both human and therefore experienced the same range of emotions as you and me. When we consider their stories closely and in full, we see the difference arose from how they responded in times of crisis. Whereas the people turned to one another with grumbling, complaining, and catastrophizing, thereby exacerbating their own and each other’s fears, Moses consistently turned to God. He sought the Lord’s help, comfort, guidance, protection, and provision. But most importantly, he simply sought God, because in His presence comes power, protection, and peace. Intersecting Life & Faith: Our world often feels chaotic and uncertain; tumultuous situations naturally evoke anxiety and fear. But you and I were created for peace and joy—not in the absence of trouble, but rather, in the presence of Jesus, our Prince of peace. The more we seek Him, read and reflect on His truth, and rest in His loving embrace, the greater our faith and the weaker our anxiety and fear. Further Reading:Psalm 27:1Isaiah 41:101 John 4:18 Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
What if encountering God is not about trying harder, but becoming more aware? In Week 2 of our sermon series There Is More, Pastor Dustin teaches on The Four Postures of Encounter—a pathway that helps us move from distraction into real, life-changing intimacy with God. God is not distant. He is near. But many of us miss His presence because we are distracted, rushed, or carrying shame. This message walks us through four spiritual postures that position our hearts to experience God more deeply. 4 Postures of Encounter 1. Awareness – God is Near Encounter begins with awareness, not effort. Like Moses at the burning bush, God is already present. The invitation is to turn aside and notice Him. Isaiah 41:10 Exodus 3:1–5 2. Reverence – God is Holy When we see God rightly, we see ourselves honestly. Isaiah's encounter with God shows us that holiness leads to humility, repentance, and calling. Isaiah 6:1–8 3. Assurance – God is Love and Mercy Shame blocks encounter. Assurance opens it. God does not tolerate you. He delights in you. His mercy is not permission to stay the same; it is power to change. Psalm 103:8–13 Romans 5:8 4. Surrender – God is Powerful God fills surrendered vessels. When we fully yield to the Holy Spirit, the same power that raised Jesus begins to work in us. Romans 8:11 Acts 1:8 Prayer of Encounter God, You are here with us right now. We turn our attention to You and choose to be present with You. Holy God, search us and know us. Cleanse what is out of alignment and draw our hearts back to You. We choose humility and honesty before You. Father, we receive Your forgiveness and Your mercy. We release shame and rest in Your delight over us. Thank You that we are fully known and fully loved. Holy Spirit, we surrender our lives to You. Fill us, lead us, and use us for Your purposes. We trust Your power more than our own strength.
2025-12-21 A Prophet Like Mosesby Pastor Chris BergScripture References:Genesis 3:14-1514 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,“Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”Deuteronomy 18:9-149 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the Lord your God.Deuteronomy 18:15-1915 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.” 17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.Romans 4:1-2 1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”Luke 22:2020 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.John 1:1111 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Hebrews 8:66 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.John 1:19-2319 Now this was John's testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” 21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.'”Acts 3:22-2322 For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.'John 4:25-2625 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”John 8:28-2928 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”John 12:49-5049 For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”John 6:3535 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.John 8:1212 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”John 10:99 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.John 10:1111 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.John 11:2525 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;John 14:66 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.Mandeville Bible Church "Where God's Word is Our Foundation"https://www.mandevillebiblechurch.org/Come and see that God's Word is alive and at work right here in Mandeville.. and throughout the world!All are welcome. 217 Carroll Street, Mandeville, LA 70448Office Phone: (985) 626-3114Sunday Service: 9:30AMAdult Sunday School: 10:45-11:30AMNursery and Children's church available.
The story of Moses has many similarities to Jesus. Most of all, Jesus is our deliverer. Like Moses delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, Jesus delivers us from our slavery to sin. We need to repent, believe, and place our full trust in Christ today. Use this Christmas season to spread the news of our great deliverer.
Harvest Bible Chapel Pittsburgh North Sermons - Harvest Bible Chapel Pittsburgh North
Introduction: John 17:3 – And this is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. John 1:18 – No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known. I Want to Know God (John 1:1–3): The REALITY: Jesus is GOD. Colossians 2:9 – For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. Zechariah 12:10 – And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced… Acts 20:28 – Pay careful attention to yourselves... to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. Hebrews 1:2 – But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. The RESPONSE: FAITH in Jesus. Hebrews 11:6 – And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. How Can I Grow in Knowing Jesus? CONFESS with your mouth. Romans 10:9 – If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. HEAR the Word. Romans 10:17 – So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. KEEP His commandments. John 15:10 – If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Small Group DiscussionRead John 1:1-3What was your big take-away from this passage / message?Why do you think the deity of Jesus is denied by so many cults? Why is that such a common point of contention?How would you explain the Trinity to a 7 year old?Define “faith”. Why do you think faith is the God-ordained way of knowing Him?What's your favorite dinosaur?BreakoutPray for one another. AUDIO TRANSCRIPT Stegosaurus.Nobody asks, so I'm just going to tell you.Game show host.And gray.Oh, oh, and what I want for Christmas.I just want to know God.Did you ever ask for something, like for Christmas or whatever, and somebody got you the genericversion?Has that ever happened to anybody else?Show of hands.You wanted something and you got the generic version?That happened to me when I was a kid.When I was a kid, they came out with this wacky thing.It was called a pogo ball.How many people show of hands remember the pogo balls?Okay, a few of you.One person in the first service did.Or about half of the first service's attendance.Remember what a pogo ball was?If you don't know, just imagine like a snowman with the head cut off.It was that kind of shape, right?And it had this hard plastic ring that went in between these two balls that were kindof fused together.And you were supposed to like stand on the plastic disc and squeeze your feet on thattop ball and then you would bounce on the pogo ball.And the pogo ball would let you jump almost as high as you could jump if you weren't ona pogo ball.But it was the hot item the one year.And I wanted a pogo ball.You know what my parents got me?The Saturn ball.Pogo balls, generic cousin.The Saturn ball.And not only was it actually not fun to use, but my family was making fun of me when Idid use it.So if I would jump on it, they'd be like, "Here we go on our Saturn ball, our Saturnball, our Saturn ball."And that really hurt my feelings.So the Saturn ball got thrown into a closet and it's probably still there until today.But look, I know we've had this conversation before.But there's just some things you can't go generic, right?Like ketchup.Altars.Oreos.The generic's not the same.Don't try to tell me that it is because you're just lying to yourself.But nothing has been made more generic than God.We live in a culture that is okay with the generic concept of God.But when you get specific, people get squirrely about that.You're like, when people say, "God bless America.""God bless America."You know, you can ask, "Well, which God?"Do you mean the God of the Bible, the one who created us, the one who judges sin, theone who commands us to repent and believe, the one who calls us to live our lives accordingto his wisdom?And it's like, oh no, not that God.But we're just okay with the generic concept.But you see, the problem with that line of thinking is God isn't a generic concept.In fact, God's not a concept at all.God is a person.God is a specific person.And as we enter into the Christmas season, you know, we know the Christmas story fromMatthew and from Luke, right?We know that version of the Christmas story well with the census, and Bethlehem and Maryand Joseph and angels and shepherds and manger and the star and the magi.Right?Well, Matthew and Luke sort of tell the story of the incarnation like looking over people'sshoulders, right?But we're going to be looking at the Gospel of John because his Christmas story is a littledifferent.In John's Christmas story, we are looking over God's shoulder.That's really the theme of the whole book of John.And we studied this some years back.But the theme of John is this, "The God of the universe has revealed himself by cominginto this world as a man to not just save you, but to have a relationship with you."That God wants you to know Him.In fact, this is what Jesus Christ was praying.John 17.3, Jesus said, "And this is eternal life that they may know you."The only true God in Jesus Christ, whom you have sent, eternal life.Nothing's more important than eternal life because you are either going to live foreverwith God or you're going to die forever apart from God.So what do you want for Christmas?The top of your list should be eternal life.And according to Jesus, that comes from knowing Him, from knowing God.And I do have to remind you that knowing about God is not the same as actually knowing God.You realize those are two completely different concepts.Knowing about God and knowing God.Not the same.Think of it this way.Imagine a young man comes to church, a single man.And he's been coming here for a while when all of a sudden one day he notices there isa beautiful young single woman.And he's like, "I don't think I met her, but who is that?"But he gets his friend.He's like, "He found out who that girl is."And his friend comes back with the information.And he says, "Oh, you asked about that girl.Here's what I know.She loves missions."She loves working with children.She enjoys traveling.And get this, she's a big Steelers fan.But she also loves rom-coms.Now if this friend goes back to the dude and gives this report on what this woman is like,do you think this man would be like, "All right, now that I have the information abouther, I am satisfied.Thank you.That is all."Is that the end of the story?No, you see, now that he knows about her, that makes him all the more want to know herpersonally.You see, that's how it is with God.That's how it is with Jesus Christ.The more you know about Him, the more you want to know Him personally.The fact should lead you to the relationship.How do I know God personally?Well John 1.18 tells us that no one has ever seen God, the only God who has at the Father'sside.He has made Him known.And folks, this is a fundamental truth.That the only way that we can know God is He has to make Himself known.And that's what we celebrate every Christmas that God has made Himself known because Hedid it in the most personal way possible.He showed up and introduced Himself.So look at John 1.Picking up in verse 1.We're just going to get the first three verses today.This might feel more like a Bible study than a sermon.But these are important truths that we're going to wrestle down here.John 1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word wasGod.He was in the beginning with God.All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made."Notice that John in introducing our Lord, He's using this word, "Word" a lot.Why does He use the word "Word"?Well He doesn't really explain that.But I promise you that the audience that He wrote to in the first century would have knownexactly what He was talking about.Because John primarily would have been writing to the Greeks and the Jews.The word "Word" in the Greek is "Logos."And to the Greeks, the Logos was like this impersonal force, this impersonal energy source.Because the Greek philosophers were like, "Look, all of this had to come from somewhere.The world didn't happen by accident.There has to be some force out there that's behind the structure of the earth.All logic and reason."They had this idea, it was an impersonal force, and they called it the Word, the Logos.So John is writing to the Greeks, and he goes, "Hey, you guys talk about the Logos, right?Did you know the Logos is a person?"It's not a thing, it's a person.It's a person that was with God.It's a person that was God, and it's a person according to John 1.14 that became fleshand dwelt among us.So that's how the Greeks would have heard this.Do you know how the Jews would have heard this?And we probably don't have to guess, right?When the Jews would have heard the Word Word, what would they have thought of?They immediately would have thought of the Law and the Prophets, what we call the OldTestament.You see, you go through the Old Testament over and over and over.The Word of the Lord came too.The Word of the Lord came too.The Word of the Lord came too.And all of the Law and the Prophets, it's known as the Word of God.So the Jews would have picked up on this concept immediately.You know what the purpose of words is?Words are to communicate something.Words are to be deliberately chosen and used to convey information to another person.That's what John's saying to the Jews.The Word became flesh.Jesus Christ is God's communication to man.A living, breathing Word.So God isn't some impersonal force.God's not a generic concept.According to God's Word, He is a person.And He has revealed who exactly He is in Jesus Christ.Let's just pause for a second and ask that you would pray for me as we do this littlestudy together that I would accurately represent God's Word.Let me pray for you to have a heart open to receive this absolutely essential truth thatGod is teaching us today.So let's pray.Father in heaven, we live in a culture that is fine to think of you in general terms.But to call you a person, a father, the sovereign of the universe, it's tough for some peopleto grasp.And I just pray Father today, especially over these next few minutes, that we would reallyhave our hearts and minds open to what it is that your Word wants to teach us aboutthe way that you've revealed yourself through your Son.It's in Jesus' name that we pray.Amen.So on your outline, I want you to write some things down.I want to know God.Here's where it starts.Number one, the reality.This is the reality.Jesus is God.Let's look at these verses here.Look at verse one again.He says, "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God."In the beginning.Is that something familiar at all?That phrase, "In the beginning."Where have we heard that?Genesis 1-1, right?That's how the whole Bible starts.And John is starting in the same place.John is saying, by saying in the beginning, John is saying, "Before anything was created,the Word existed."The Word.And notice he says two things about the Word.First of all, the Word was with God.And secondly, the Word was God.First of all, let's talk about the Word was God.This claim is nothing less than Jesus Christ is Almighty God.This is all through the New Testament.If we were to just do a Bible study today looking at the verses of the New Testamentto talk about Jesus being God, we would be here long after the snow melted.But the New Testament is so full of this truth.For example, Colossians 2-9 says, "For in Him, in Jesus, the whole fullness of Deitydwells bodily."Most concise statement of Jesus' Deity is probably right here in John 1-14.It says, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, gloryas of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."The Word became flesh and dwelt.That Word dwelt in the Greek is the word tabernacled.The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.You heard the tabernacle?In the Old Testament, it was this portable structure that as Moses was leading the Israelitesout of Egypt, God told Moses to build this structure and it had this tent with the HolyPlace and the Holy of Holies.And this was the place where God's unique presence dwelt among His people.So when John says, "The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us," you know, if youwere in the Old Testament times, if you lived with Old Testament Israel and somebody said,"Hey, can you point to the place where God's unique presence lives on the earth?"You would point to the building, the tabernacle.You would say, "Yeah, God's unique presence on earth is right there."Fast forward to 2025 right now.If I were to say, "Can you point to the place where God's unique presence dwells on earth?"Where would you point?It's right here, right?Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.The temple was just the permanent version of the tabernacle.This is where God lives.This is God's unique presence here.So what John is saying in John 1.14 is for about 33 years of earth's history, when youwould ask, "Where is God's unique presence on the earth?"You'd point to a man.That man's name is Jesus Christ.You would point to him and say, "Right there.That man is the unique presence of God on the earth.This is where he is."All right?Jesus is not an exalted angel.Jesus is not some special enlightened human.According to this verse, Jesus is the God.And every false religion denies this, by the way.And I can just tell you personally, you would be shocked at how many times I've had to havethis conversation with people over the course of my ministry, that people who actually say,Jesus never said He was God.You heard that argument?Jesus never said it.What the argument is this, that's something the church kind of came up with.We kind of, like some religions like us, we sort of hitched that idea onto Jesus.Did Jesus Himself, they say, "Oh, if you study the words of Jesus, He never said He was God."Well, do you remember back in Exodus chapter 3, God called Moses through the burning bush.You know, you're going to lead my people out of Egypt.You're going to lead them to the promised land.Do you remember Moses says to God, "Well, what if Israel asks who sent me?"What if Israel is like, "What is His name?"Do you remember in that moment, God told Moses what His name is?You remember?God told Moses His name is, "I am who I am."That's God's name.His name is, "I am."I love that.God didn't say to Moses, "My name is I was."Like Moses, like what's your name?And God's like, "Moses, I was.Oh Moses, you should have seen me back in high school.Oh Moses, I was so good looking and I was such a good athlete.Back in the day Moses, back in the day I was really something.No, he's not the I was.But nor did God tell Moses that he's the I will be."Right?Like Moses is like, "What's your name?"And God's like, "Well Moses, you tell the Israelites, I might not be nothing specialnow but I'm taking my vitamins and I'm drinking my milk and I'm doing my palates and I'm jumpingon my pogo ball and someday, someday I'm going to be something great.I will be."God's not the I was and he's not the I will be.God is, "He is I am."From eternity past, He is infinite, majestic holiness.He is the I am.And in eternity future, He will still be infinite, majestic holiness.He is the I am.You're like, "Well what does that have to do with Jesus?"Because Jesus repeatedly claimed that He is the I am.It's all through the gospel of John, what, like seven times.I am the bread of life.I am the light of the world.I am the way and the truth and the life.I am the good shepherd.I am the door.All through Jesus made this claim.John chapter 8, Jesus said before Abraham was, "I am."John chapter 10, Jesus said, "I and the Father are one."And in that moment the Jews picked up stones, they were going to kill them for saying that.Jesus says, "I did a lot of good works for which of them are you going to stone me?"And they said, "Oh no, you're making yourself out to be God the way you're talking."And you see, they knew exactly what He was saying.They knew exactly what He meant when He said, "I and the Father are one."Oh, and by the way, not only does the Bible say that Jesus is God, did you know that the Bible also says that God is Jesus?Here's what I mean.Look at Zechariah 12/10.This is before the incarnation, the Christmas story.This is before the baby in the manger story.This is Old Testament.Look at what God says.God says, "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a spirit of grace and please, for mercy, so that when they look on Me on Him whom they have pierced."Do you see how God identifies Himself?He identifies Himself as the one who was pierced and who was the one that was pierced.It's Jesus Christ on the cross.Do you see that?Do a little word study there.That's exactly what He's saying.They will look on the one whom they've stabbed.Right?It's also in the New Testament.God is Jesus.Look at Acts 20, for example.Paul says, "The Ephesians elders pay careful attention to yourselves to care for the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood."Who bought the church with His blood?He says God.You're like, "I thought it was Jesus that shed His blood."Well, Paul's saying that as Jesus shed His blood, that was God obtaining the church with His own blood.So Jesus is God, yes, and the Bible also says that God is Jesus.The word was God, but the Bible also says here that the word was with God.The word was with God.And in case you missed it, in case you didn't quite catch it in verse 1, verse 2, he just says the exact same thing.He was in the beginning with God.So somehow, Jesus is God, but being with God, somehow He is distinct from the Father.Like if I said to you yesterday, I was with my buddy Nathaniel, and I was my buddy Nathaniel.You would say, "Were you and Nathaniel smoking something? Like what was going on there?"That doesn't make sense, does it?How can you be with somebody and be somebody at the same time?But that's exactly what the Bible says about Jesus and His relationship with God.He's not only God, but He's also with God.And people want that explained all the time.Pastor Taylor had a couple of weeks ago, the little children back there had a Q&A thing with him.And one of the questions they were asking about, the trinity.And look, do you want to know about the trinity? Here's the reality.Nobody can figure that out. That's the truth.You can't do it.Because from the moment you were born, you've only ever known two things in your life.Your whole life, you've only ever known two things.And that's time and space.You can't fathom an existence outside of time and space.This is where we are.And now we have a God who lives and exists in rules outside of time and space.God is not bound by time and space.And somehow we think that we're going to be able to explain everything about Him.Here's what I know.The Word was with God and the Word was God.The Bible says God exists.He's one God, but He exists as three persons.Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Jesus is eternal, but distinct.And you don't have to explain it to believe it.I can't explain to you how my car works, but I believe that it does when I get in and drive it.Look at verse 3.He says, "All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made."Okay, this is just theology 101. It's all through the Old Testament.God is Creator.And John here is saying Jesus is God, He's with God.And then John takes another step and says, "Jesus is Creator. He made all things."And somehow, again, the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all involved in creation at the same time.You're like, "Can you explain that?"I just told you I could not explain that.But somehow God, the Father created through God the Son, and the Genesis tells us that the Spirit of God hovered above the waters.All three members of the Trinity were involved.And somehow Jesus is the agent of creation.The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 2 that in these last days, God has spoken to us by His Son,whom He appointed the heir of all things through whom also He created the world.Through whom He created the world.That's all John's saying here in verse 3."Every living thing gets life from something else.A tree, a dog, a woodpecker, you. You got life from something else.The only person who has never received life from someone else is God Himself."That's what John's saying, since Jesus already existed before creation,and because Jesus didn't get His life from something else, then He must be God.Those are the biblical facts about Jesus.And listen, even if you're sitting here today or listening to the podcast later or whatever,even if you don't agree with that, can we take an honest look at what the Bible says and stop trying to twist it?Oh, it doesn't really say that.The Bible overwhelmingly says that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.That's the truth that you have to reckon with.He is God.So if you want to know God, number two, the response.The response. You want to know God? The response is faith in Jesus.The reality is Jesus is God. The response is we have to have faith in Jesus.You see, God took the initiative.God did His part in revealing Himself as Jesus, so the question is, what's my part in knowing Him?It's faith.Faith is the only way to know God.Oh, and speaking of generic,not only do people use the name of God in a generic sense,but you'll find that people use the concept of faith in a generic sense.There is a true biblical sense and definition of faith,but we live in a culture that just throws that word faith around all the time and uses it in all kinds of ways.Here's what I mean.Some people use faith like it means a wishful thinking.Faith is just wishful thinking.Like, well, I just kind of have faith that everything's going to work out.Like, what does that even mean?For some people, they think faith is just the way of the ignorant.Like, well, you believe in science.Or you believe in faith, rather. I believe in science.And they're condescending. You're just some, you know, backwoods, redneck, you're ignorant.I believe in science, but you have your little fairy tale faith.And still other people look at faith as some kind of ambiguous spirituality.You hear people say, I'm a person of faith.Do you know who else is a person of faith?Literally everybody.Everybody believes in something.What is your faith in?Because you can have faith in the wrong thing.So listen, my friends, God is not a generic concept and neither is faith.Faith is a specific disposition towards a specific person.That's why Hebrews 11.6 says without faith,it is impossible to please Him for whoever would draw near to God.That's the knowing God piece.Whoever would draw near to God must believe that He existsand that He rewards those who seek Him.It starts with obviously an acknowledgement of His existence,but it doesn't stop there. You have to seek Him.You have a responsibility.God took the initiative. He revealed Himself in Jesus.What is my responsibility in this relationship?Or how can I grow in knowing Jesus?I want you to draw these three things down.How can I grow in knowing Jesus?Letter A, you have to confess with your mouth.Romans 10.9 says, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lordand believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.And you are not going to grow in your relationship with Himif you don't have one to begin with."So have you made that confession?Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on the crossto pay the penalty for your sins, that He rose from the deadto give you eternal life? Do you believe that?Because people have this idea that, well, we're all children of Godand a creative sense, yes, but not in the adoptive sense.Yes, we do all have a relationship with Jesus.The question is, do you have a good relationship with Himor a bad relationship with Him?You have to confess with your mouth.Ask to start there, letter B, you have to hear the Word.You have to hear the Word.Romans 10.17 says, "So faith comes from hearingand hearing through the Word of Christ."The only way your faith grows is through the Word of God.Because this is the only truly reliable source of informationabout Jesus, because this is the source of informationthat was given to us by God.You have to be in the Wordif you're going to know Jesus.Any relationship involves time and communication.And some people, they spend no time in His Word,no time praying His Word and reading and studying and meditating.And they spend no time at all in the Word.And then they wonder why they feel so distant.Relationships grow when time is spent together.You need to prioritize spending time and praying the Word of God.Finally, letter C, keep His commandments.Jesus says in John 15.10, "If you keep My commandments,you will abide in My love just as I have kept My Father's commandmentsand abide in His love."That's how you abide. It's through obedience.Now listen, if you're a Christian and you're in sin,sin is not going to end your relationship with Jesus.But you're obviously going to feel distant from Godif you have unrepentant sin.Any area of disobedience in your life that you refuse to deal with,you're going to feel distant.And that's not on God. That's on you.God hasn't gone anywhere. You have.So what is it in your life right now that you're like,"I know that this is what God wants me to stop doing,or maybe something God wants you to start doing,but you know exactly what it is.You need to turn from that sin.You need to obey whatever Jesus is calling you to.And you're going to enjoy the freedomthat repentance brings in your walk with Christ."This is what keeps people from coming to Christin the first place, by the way.Jesus will take you just as you are,but He won't leave you that way.Jesus wants to transform you.He wants to change you.Some people just don't want to be changed.Keep His commandments.The Word became flesh.God became a man.Our worship team would come back up.You know, I came to Christ when I was 20.And it's an amazing thing to grow up in a churchas a kid.All those days, all those yearssitting in the church, how little I really understood.But when I was led to Christ, it was this whole newworld, right?And I remember I was trying to understand.And I had this Bible that my parents got me.You know, some Bibles have the little story inserts,little devotional things that kind of build into the Bible.Well, this Bible had this story in it.And the story goes something like this.There was this farmer and his wife, it was Chris Paseeb,and the farmer's wife was going to church.And she asked her husband if he wanted to go with her.He goes, "No, I don't get that church stuff.It doesn't, that makes no sense to me.You know, I'm not interested at all, but you go have fun."Well, she went to church.And while he was home, he saw that there were birds trying to getinto his barn.This really bad deep freeze came over, kind of like,"What happened here?"And these birds were trying to get into the barn,seeking shelter from the cold.The farmer says, "Well, I can help those birds."So he goes, "I'll just go out and open the doorand let them in the barn."And when he went out, you know what birds do, right?They just kind of scattered everywhere.The farmer's like, "Well, that sure didn't help anything."So he thought, "Well, maybe if I just leave breadcrumbs,I can like guide them in there somehow."Didn't work.No matter what the farmer did, he couldn't get the birdsinto the barn to get shelter.And as the story goes, I don't think it's a true story,but as the story goes, he stood and lookedout the kitchen window, and he saw the birds back flyingaround the outside of the barn not able to get in.And the farmer thought to himself,"Those birds are going to die."And as badly as I want to save them,I don't know how I can get them into the barn.But then the farmer had a thought.The farmer thought, "You know, if I could become a birdfor like five minutes, I could approach them,they wouldn't be scared of me, I could speak their language,and I could show them the way that they could be saved."And right when he had the thought, the story goes,"Off in the distance, he heard the church's bells ringing."And that's when it connected.It's a dumb story.Admittedly, what I'm going to tell you as a young Christian,when I read that, that's what made everything click for me.Yes, that's the purpose of the incarnation,that God became one of us to save us.So what do you want for Christmas?I want to know God, not the generic knockoff,but the real person.Because knowing God is eternal life.We're going to have our elders and members of our prayer teamup front here.And in just a moment, Ashley's going to sing a song over you.And we're going to have a good old-fashioned altar call.You can stay in your seat, you can pray right where you are.But I want you to know there's people that are up here that would love to pray with youand for you.So as Ashley sings over you, we're going to invite youto come. Maybe there's somebody herethat today you're like, "You know what? I don't really know God. I know about Him.But I don't really have a relationship with Him.Today's the day. Today's the day that you can go from knowing aboutGod to knowing God. So please come.Our Father in Heaven, we thank Youfor the way that You have demonstrated Your holiness and loveby taking on flesh and blood.Father, I pray against all of the distractions. It's that time of yearthat there's more to do than we have time to do.And there's so many things buying for our attention.Father, I pray that we would take a realclose examination at the person of Jesus Christ and examine our own hearts.Are we truly walking with Him? Do we trulyhave a relationship with Him that we're spending timetogether and knowing and growing?Or are we just churchgoers?Father, I thank You. You've revealed Your heart. You want us to know You.You've done everything and have just simply called us to receivewhat You have accomplished.Father, thank You. We praise You and ask that You would continue to manifestYour goodness and presence in us by the power of Your Spirit through the wisdomof Your Word. We praise You in the name of JesusChrist, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
Great Restoration and Revival (3) (audio) David Eells – 12/7/25 Do you know why God speaks to us in parables as in Jesus, the Man-child's day? He said, To hide these things from the wise and prudent that He may reveal them unto babes… I want to share with you some revelations to help you and encourage you to be spiritually prepared for tribulation and the outpouring of the latter rain anointing. Terrorism, Spiritual Invasion and Apostasy Don Lett - 06/22/2008 (David's notes in red) For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Eph.6:12) (At first, this appears to be a physical terrorist attack, but the further you read on, the more it is revealed to be a spiritual invasion and attack on the U.S. and Christians.) Somehow, I found out about a terrorist attack that was going to occur on an Air Force base where I was staying. Although this base seemed like a normal civilian area. (The U.S. is the eagle of the “Lion with Eagles Wings” of Babylon. It is called this partially because of its air superiority. I believe the U.S. is the air force base in the “normal civilian area”.) I was in a bathroom hiding, and I could see that a group of Caucasian, American-looking men had captured most of the leadership on the base. (The enemy looks like average Americans but has a foreign ideology and spirit.) I looked behind me and saw that the General of the base was incapacitated and a little bloody. He wasn't able to stop this attack. The terrorists were looking for him but couldn't find him. I decided that he was OK and that he would be safely hidden in this bathroom. (The corporate beast spirit body from the pit has infiltrated and captured the minds of most of the leadership of the U.S. and is using them for their one world order purposes against the saints.) In another room to my rear, I could see a baby being watched by an adult. They were safe for the time being in a glass room, but I had no idea what was getting ready to take place. (The alien terrorist attack is happening to raise up this dragon/beast entity over the U.S. and bring down the freedoms we have known in the past. The baby is the newborn corporate Man-child that the beast entity wants to extinguish, as Herod attempted in the Gospels and the dragon will attempt in the Rev.12 end-time parallel. However, this baby, although visible, is safely caught up to heavenly places in Christ. The beast that is taking over all nations is the real terrorist that will make war against the saints.) I was scared, but I also noticed there was an escape route to the rear. I had to warn the authorities on base. I went straight to the guard shack at the check-in point. When I told the guards that I needed to talk to someone immediately about something that was going to occur, an MP car pulled up. They suggested that I inform the MPs who were in the car. They rolled down their window, and I leaned down to begin to tell them about the terrorists. But then I remembered that part of the plan was to infiltrate the base with other terrorists. I wasn't sure if these were real MPs or terrorists in disguise. I asked the MPs in the guard shack if they had ever seen these individuals before. They said no. (We really don't know who can receive our warning of this invasion. Some whom we think are brethren we find out are really the enemy.) I went and spoke to another MP whom they did recognize. As I was explaining to him about the terrorists, several people from my past were walking by and casually listening with interest, but not alarm, like J____. The MP seemed interested but not alarmed either. But it appeared that he would take someone to investigate these claims. (Most authorities will not take this spiritual alien invasion seriously, and others have already been taken over by it.) Next thing you know, I was sitting at a long table with a group of other civilians who were eating. Most of them, it seems, knew that I had found out about this terrorist attack. Some family members then began to brag about T___, who they said was getting these amazing words from God. The method that she was getting this word was from occult spiritualism or witchcraft-type practice. (Many times masquerading as Christian gifts.) They thought of her as a white witch. When they explained this to me, I told them right away that this is not the way that God works and that she was being influenced by a familiar spirit, but they didn't believe me. Just then, a very old friend from my past, S____, began to tell me what a hypocrite I am because of something I had done to him when I was a teenager (30 years or so ago). I told him that I was sorry and explained to him about forgiveness and how I had completely forgotten about this incident that had held him in captivity for so long. I asked him to let it go. (Many will be taken in because they are turned over to the tormentors for their own unforgiveness.) I turned my attention back to T____. My family members continued to press me about how God was speaking through her and that she was a good witch. And I reiterated that God didn't work this way. I told them that if they would meet with me outside, I would lay hands on her and cast this demon out. They still didn't believe me, but decided to meet with me, probably to prove that she was getting the word from God. (Many today pay no attention to the source of knowledge and power in these fakes since they are infiltrated with the enemy, but if we hold fast to the scriptures, we will know them.) While walking to meet with her, I got mixed up in a Catholic procession. They were singing “Amazing Grace”, but I could not get in tune with the way they were singing it. I tried several times and eventually got frustrated and stopped walking and singing with them. (The righteous will not assimilate into the larger end-time Universal, meaning Catholic, religion of the new world order that turns grace into lasciviousness.) I ended up in a different room. I noticed T____ walking with the group as they were walking in a line up a ramped corridor. The wall between us had an opening about one foot high at the neck so that I could see the faces of those walking. T____ was walking with them. I remembered that she looked pretty, but something was very odd about her countenance. Everyone seemed to be walking in an almost trance-like state. (Those who are into the witchcraft of rebellion to the Word will be assimilated by the alien spirits.) I had to go downstairs to meet with her and found myself on an elevator with a bunch of other people. This elevator was wide open without even a handrail. As I was going down the elevator, I was praying that God could do this work through me. I was concerned that I had not been close enough to God lately to cast this powerful demon out. (Closeness to the Lord enables us to be useful in the deliverance of our brethren.) When I came downstairs, there were a lot of activities. A lot of people I knew were playing basketball. I wanted to join them, but I had to take care of this first. I was still very concerned that I wouldn't be able to cast this demon out. Several people stopped me on the way to that side of the room to say hi. I quickly said hi and continued to move toward my cousin. (Most are caught up in the game of competition and scoring points between the sects of Christianity and are unaware of the spiritual alien invasion in their midst.) When I finally made my way past the basketball court, more acquaintances whom I had not seen in a while wanted to say hi. I gave a friend of mine a hug and said hi, and continued to move on. Finally, I got face-to-face with T___. I told her that I was going to lay hands on her, and just as I began to lay hands on her, a very shapely woman, whom I had never met, dressed in a turquoise stretchy dress that was cut very low at the breasts and high on the thighs, came out of nowhere and approached me to hug me. None of this made any sense to me that such a beautiful lady, whom I had never seen before, would come up to me and decide to hug me. I knew this had to be the work of the enemy. (The harlot of apostate Christianity seeks to seduce those who seek to deliver its adherents.) I thought about some of David Eells' teachings, and I held my hand out and said, “Lord, take this demon away from me”. (Or maybe, “Don't allow this demon to touch me”.) I was astonished by what happened next. This lady was lifted off the ground about an inch or two and slid backward about 10 to 15 feet and landed in a chair. She had her back arched, and you could see spiritual demonic activity above her chest. This startled me so much that I awoke from the dream. (The Word will cause the elect to recognize strong delusions of apostasy.) My Interpretation: The Air Force base is the U.S. “This building (the Pentagon) will be attacked 3 million times today”. It is protected by the Air Force from cyberattacks. Terrorists are not Muslims; they are ordinary-looking Americans. Christian babies are somewhat protected, but they are totally unaware of the dangers. They are protected for a time, but the room is made of glass. These people have infiltrated a large part of our police forces (and government organizations). People will listen mostly out of interest but not out of concern. People have no problem listening to false prophets, but don't believe the Word of God. Satan will attempt to divert us from our mission by using: False prophets Past wrongs you committed Family members False religions You question your confidence in your walk with the Lord Extra-curricular activities Friends Lusts The Personality Profiles: J____- nominal but professing Christians, with very little biblical knowledge and virtually no relationship with Christ S____ - former Christian having fallen from the faith. Atheist or agnostic at best T____ - little or no biblical knowledge, professing a relationship with God The Cross Revives the Church Eve Brast - 10/04/2016 (David's notes in red) I dreamed that my son Elijah and I were making our way through crowds of frustrated people in an airport. (Elijah represents the John the Baptist ministry calling God's people to repentance.) (Without repentance God's people cannot live in heavenly places above this world. (Mal.4:5) Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come. 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. The children don't know their fathers in the faith. All they have known is Babylonian false prophets and haven't grown up.) The people were angry and frustrated because an announcement had been made overhead that all flights were "delayed" and no one knew why. (Flights being delayed are representative of earthly bondages continuing.) Why do earthly bondages continue? They don't know their need because they don't know their spiritual fathers. (Eph.1:3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ... All of our needs are supplied in heavenly places by abiding in Christ, Who is the Word. When we do not depart from the Word, we are a heavenly creation with heavenly benefits. Right behind John's repentance came Jesus and the church fathers.) (I asked Father for a word concerning the announcement of the delayed flights in the airport and received (Isa.1:25) I will turn my hand on you, thoroughly purge away your dross, and will take away all your tin. 26 I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors (Fathers) as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called 'The city of righteousness, a faithful town'.) As we came up to the last terminal (time is running out), an older woman with blonde hair that had streaks of gray throughout, wearing a head covering, came up to us and pleaded with us to come and help her daughter, who was being a rebellious teenager. She was concerned because her daughter would not obey her concerning staying home and helping her clean the house and her bedroom. (Representing sanctification or "holiness without which no man shall see the Lord".) She kept sneaking out of the house to hang out with her friends at the mall and go shopping. (This woman represents the original church whose daughter has gone astray [in immature rebellion]. I believe there is one daughter in this dream because she represents the elect of God who will return to the true church. (Time is running out for the rebels to escape the power of this world before the judgments come. (Rom.2:3) And reckonest thou this, O man, who judgest them that practise such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? (The rebellious teenager/church is about to miss her plane to safety.) (Luk.21:34) But take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly as a snare: 35 for so shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of all the earth. (Meaning those not in heavenly places in Christ.) 36 But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. (Heb.2:3) how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard. (Heavenly places is to be caught up to the throne of God's authority over this cursed world.) 4 God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will. 5 For not unto angels did he subject the world to come, whereof we speak. 6 But one hath somewhere testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that thou visitest him? 7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; Thou crownedst him with glory and honor, And didst set him over the works of thy hands: 8 Thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet. (To be in the heavens is to have everything worldly and all of the curse under your feet.) For in that he subjected all things unto him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we see not yet all things subjected to him. (Whose fault is that? Jesus said that we have heavenly authority over this earth and its curse in (Mat.16:19) I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Rev.3:21) He that overcometh (the teenager rebellion and lust), I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne.) While the woman was lamenting to us about the daughter, I noticed an escalator off to the side of the terminal. I noticed that there were many people packed onto the downside (falling away) and only two or three individuals going up on the upside (those ascending to heavenly throne authority) to the next level. (Only one out of the four bore fruit in the parable of the sower.) (We are called to heavenly places, which are in Christ. Much of the church is earth-bound because they have not learned to abide in Christ, Who is the Word.) Then the woman's voice came back into my focus and hearing as Elijah was agreeing that we would go with her to her house and help her daughter. (The Bride will bring repentance to the rebellious church but not before some judgment arrives.) The scene changed as we found ourselves standing at the entrance to the daughter's bedroom from within the house. The mother was opening the door and gesturing for us to enter. Her daughter's room looked like a shop at the mall. (Love of the earthly stops one from receiving love of the heavenly places.) Shoe displays and mannequin torsos were displaying risqué teen clothing. (Many are in idolatry [and lust] with the world.) The mother explained that the daughter was hardly ever home, choosing to be at the mall and with her friends over home life with the family. (The heavenly family has been departed from, for earthly pursuits. We all know people like this who are full of excuses, but they will find out too late that they didn't eat their Word.) Elijah and I (Eve, the Bride) began to walk around the room to get an idea of what to say to the daughter and how to help her. I noticed a white door with glass panes in the top half, and on the other side of the room, which led into the room from the outside. There was a short hall entryway between the room and the door. (The door is Christ and represents salvation.) I noticed some activity going on in the entryway. (This is where most of the Church stops, not bearing the fruit of Christ in their soul and ministry.) David was busy doing something. Then Michael came up to us and began explaining about a project that David had been working on for a while for this girl. Michael showed me a few of the nails that he had helped gather for the project. He had quite a few gathered in a small silver metal bucket near the wall of the entryway. (The nails are to hold our flesh on our cross so that we may have the resurrection life of Christ in heavenly places of throne authority.) (David and Michael are representative of the Man-child ministers who have been prepared and are preparing for this end-time harvest.) Suddenly, a bunch of the Local UBM brethren came into the room in the same direction that Elijah and I had entered. I saw that everyone was cooperating with one another to transform the daughter's room. (The apostate Church will see a role model in the Bride that they never did in their leadership.) I saw M. L. consulting with the other ladies to alter all the clothing into more appropriate things for the daughter to wear. (The mature don't flash flesh, they crucify it. Modesty is a necessity.) The men were discussing how to move around some of the shelves (too many of God's things are on shelves) and bring in appropriate furniture for a bedroom. (To rest in faith in God's promises.) (Being in one accord and one Spirit with body ministry for our little sister.) (It appears a little sister was matured and glorified. (Psa.45:13) The king's daughter within the palace is all glorious: Her clothing is inwrought with gold. 14 She shall be led unto the king in broidered work: The virgins her companions that follow her Shall be brought unto thee. 15 With gladness and rejoicing shall they be led: They shall enter into the king's palace. 16 Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, Whom thou shalt make princes in all the earth. And it appears that she became a spiritual mother to many.) Then the door to the outside opened, and David stepped over the threshold carrying a large, lightweight transparent cross over his right shoulder. (The Davids will first bear the cross to death of themselves so that they may give it to others. (Heb.12:2) looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.) Michael said excitedly, "There it is. That's the project!" I asked Father for a word concerning David and Michael and the project and received 1 Timothy 2:5 (context: 5,6). (1Ti.2:5) For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself a ransom for all; the testimony to be borne in its own times. (Just as Jesus paid the price for us to be freed, so will He do it in the Man-child, and much fruit will be borne. (Joh.12:24) Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit.) David knelt down and gently laid the cross down with the foot at the threshold and the head where the room began. He reached over the cross and pulled the bucket of nails toward him as Michael went over and handed him a heavy hammer. As David pulled the nails out of the bucket, they began to light up a beautiful sky blue like neon signs. He nailed them in groups of three at all four points on the cross. (Giving others an example of death to self. There were 12 blue nails representing discipleship. This cross bridges the gap so that those who are without can enter the house. (Representing the now-holy house and place of heavenly provision. No cross, no crown.]) Once David had finished, the daughter came home, and as she stood looking in amazement at the entryway, she couldn't believe that David had cared enough to do that for her. She was so touched that she had to come in and see the rest of the room. (The Church's eyes will be opened through the crucifixion of the Man-child, and they will enter into the Kingdom life.) She was amazed at how we had all worked together to transform her room, and she really liked what she saw. Everything was so new to her as she walked around admiring the transformation. I went over to her as she stood in front of some shelves that the men had restored. I watched her pick up some sort of tool off the shelf, wondering what it was. It had a part of it that glowed blue like the nails in the cross. I began to explain to her what it was and how to use it. Her face was filled with wonder as I watched her transform before my eyes into a young boy with beautiful blonde hair. (The transformation of our little sister into Christlikeness through our witness and examples. Showing her how to use the tools of the Gospel in order to overcome.) Then I woke up. I asked Father for a verse or text for this dream and received by random John 20:19 (context: 19-23). (Joh.20:19) When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 20 And when he had said this, he showed unto them his hands and his side. (Proofs of crucifixion and resurrection.) The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace be unto you: as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you. (Through spiritual crucifixion and resurrection.) 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit (The great power of God to lose our life to gain Jesus' life and ministry.): 23 whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. Spiritual Food for the Tribulation Janie McManus - 04/30/2009 (David's notes in red) Generally, I wake up early, by 6:00 AM, to pray and read the Word, but this morning when I awoke, I wanted to sleep some more. It was my day off and I had a long list of things to do, and I thought, Oh no, what will happen if I stay in bed? Then I sensed the Holy Spirit say, “Sleep. I want to give you a gift”. I drifted off into sleep and dreamed I was within a group of people being herded along urban streets, and jostling among folks. (This is in the hard times of tribulation when the World Beast will take charge of people's lives.) I realized that I was not among people I knew, but we seemed about the same middle, lower-middle class crowd -- no one too fancy, and basically healthy. So I am standing in the middle of all these sacks of grain, and we have to move, suddenly, like we were being driven, so I asked the ones around me, “Can you help me carry these sacks?” (The Word we need to live by), and they laughed, saying, “No need to drag that along; we get plenty to eat”. (Those who set aside obedience to the scripture.) But I figured, this is perfectly good grain, and I am not going to just throw it away, so I loaded my pack and pockets, and we walked and jogged on. (Revival among the poor, outside the camp of mainstream churchianity, who will “load up” on the grain of God's Word.) Soon we stopped, out on this country road, and long board tables were set out, and we were instructed to line up on the sides, and then plates were put in front of us filled with this mush, which, on closer inspection, was filled with maggots. Looking up and down the length of the table, I saw people just pick up the plates and start shoveling it in. (The Beast and their false prophets will feed their corrupt teachings to the spiritually starving.) Needless to say, I was NOT hungry, so I wandered away from the table and snatched a few grains to chew on. Immediately, I could hear the boots of these uniformed troops as they rushed up to the table to see if the food was eaten and all the plates were empty, except mine. In a gruff voice, they asked, “Whose plate is this?” and everyone who had been alongside me turned and pointed to me, but the troops just stormed past me, as though I wasn't there. (Martial law will enforce the harlot's wishes on the multitudes, as in Jesus' day. Our site has testimonies of people being invisible to the enemy as they served the Lord. Jesus passed through the midst of those who would kill Him. Peter passed two trained guards as an angel led him out of prison.) This wearying trek of meals and marching kept being repeated, and I just munched on my grain and shared with anyone who asked for some. (The righteous will carry the Word to those hungry for life.) At first, everyone liked the sweet taste, but they didn't like chewing it, so they spit it out, preferring the gruel. (The clean beasts chew the cud until the Word is thoroughly digestible and useful to the body.) The ones who did eat from both sources became sort of shadowy and wispy (spiritual), but also fearful, and they began to hide. (Those who begin to mix the Word in with their traditions become more spiritual, but their corrupt lives are condemned, and they fear the Lord without an understanding of grace.) Then they refused to eat what I offered and they became “solid” (fleshly) again but everyone had sort of an oily, flabby, fleshy muscle tone, and they wheezed in an unhealthy way. (Those who hear the Word and turn back to walk in the flesh will be cursed. (2 Pet.2:20) For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first. 21 For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 22 It has happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog turning to his own vomit again, and the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire.) Eventually, we came to a small strip mall that had already been looted, and all the folks rushed into the ransacked stores to see if there was anything they could yet steal. Some were stuffing CDs and techno things into their packs, which was dumb, since they had no electricity or batteries. (The mall represents the buying and selling of the merchants of Babylonish Christianity. They don't know that they have been plundered of anything useful and what is left is useless and powerless.) In the strip mall, I saw that there was a Christian bookstore and, although the windows were smashed, the shelves had been swept clear (no knowledge of God left) and piles of books were on the floor. (What knowledge was there was on the lowest level. The smashed windows represent no clear vision.) I went and picked up a book off the floor and, when I lifted it, all this ash fell out; I looked at the pages, and they were completely empty. When I sifted through the ashes, I found a few little stones. When I licked one off, it proved to be a tiny diamond, hard and translucent. (The only value in the teachings of Babylon is when they quote the scriptures. Nothing else will endure the fires of tribulation.) I wrestled with whether I ought to pocket the tiny diamonds or leave them behind. I searched for some Bibles but found none. (The Word will not be found in the government-approved churches.) I went up to a full bookshelf and opened a standing book. Instantly, the printed words crumbled and slid off the page -- all of them except some bold-print quotes. Suddenly, these leapt off the page and coiled up like microfilm (hidden treasures) and fell at my feet. I realized these words were direct Bible quotes and they were the tiny diamonds. So I scooped up as many as I could gather before the marching orders were barked out. (The Bible will be treasured by the hungry and destroyed by the wicked.) The people were gathering out in the front parking lot of the mall, so I went out to join them. They saw all the diamonds I had, tackled me and looted me! They were shaking me down and gulping down the diamonds by the fistful, without even chewing them, and then left me on the curb, in the middle of nowhere, and went on. (Those apostates who hear but do not digest the Word of truth will persecute the righteous. (Mat.7:6) Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine, lest haply they trample them under their feet, and turn and rend you.) I saw that the back door of the store was standing open, and I dragged myself over to the door. There was an enormous interior space that was floored like a warehouse, and there were people in low wheelchairs scooting back and forth, from one end of the mall to the other. I felt afraid for them, realizing that they were the ones who would be culled from the herd, but I “understood” that these were below the radar: “In their weakness, God's strength is made perfect”; so, even though they were physically handicapped, they were rather healthier than the others. (Those whom the world considers crippled and unworthy of its company, God chooses and protects. (1 Cor.1:26) For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, [are called]: 27 but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong; 28 and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, [yea] and the things that are not, that he might bring to nought the things that are: 29 that no flesh should glory before God.) On the far end, there was a kindly woman who was feeding the handicapped handfuls of the diamonds. The kindly woman was spry and very old (strength and maturity); she came up and asked me if I was a Christian. I said yes, and then she asked, “How do you know?” I began sobbing and saying, “I was hungry and thirsty” (I felt like a little child who was over-tired). I then said, “Because I only want to eat diamonds” (You know you are a Christian when you hunger and thirst for the pure Word. (Mat.18:3) and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.) This made me cry even more because I felt I had given the wrong answer. I started wailing and weeping and saying, “I gave all the grain I had to the others, and they hate me. I try to walk with them and I share what I have, and I don't make trouble”. (Many “on fire Christians” have had the sad experience of trying but failing to fit in among the apostates and being persecuted for it.) I went on and on about all the stuff I had done, knowing it all sounded so foolish, and I was overcome with exhaustion and was sobbing uncontrollably. (Failure to reach many lost souls with the true Word will be a grief to many saints.) She gently put her hand on my shoulder and said, “You must go on now”. Suddenly, she paused, turned and asked me, “Do you know how to get more diamonds whenever you want?” Before I answered, she held up a single page of NT scripture for me to see. The page was almost sheer, and the lettering was moving like tiny rivulets of water (as “living water”) and she asked me, “Do you recognize any of this?” I began crying and with such intense joy that it hurt, and I could not even see through my tears. I reached up to try and grab the whole page to try to stuff it in my mouth, but she would not let me lay hold of it. (Reading it too fast and missing the details.) Laughing, she said, “No, you sit still and read the words so you can hear what they say and see what they mean”. Calming myself down, I sat to read, and whenever I came to words I knew, they suddenly froze and became like a sticker or label. (As we meditate on the Word, it becomes real to us -- digested into our being.) She said, “Peel them off and eat that,” so I did just that. Some passages I ate 10 or 15 times, but immediately after peeling off the label/passage, they were replaced. So, like a hungry man, I gorged myself and thought I could eat until I fell asleep. She said, “Now, you can keep eating whenever you want, or you can lug the grain sack around”. I was puzzled and asked, “Where will I carry it?” and she said, “It is in your mind and in your heart, but you must stand still and look for it and ask for it; there it will be”. (There is a time when we only carry the Word of God in our hand, but as we digest it, the Holy Spirit is able to bring it up out of our hearts to meet the needs around us.) Then she again said, “You must go on now”. Now I was greatly strengthened, rested and fed. I even began to wake up, ready to conquer the day, but I heard her voice say, “Wait, there is more”, and I fell into sleep again, into the same dream. I was being dragged out of the crowd in the middle of a campground by some of the people I had fed earlier, and they began dragging me toward the troops. I didn't feel a bit afraid and I wasn't resisting. I said to them, “Let's just stand here; they can come over to us”, which they did immediately! (The apostate church will use the beast government to persecute those whose doctrine doesn't please their flesh.) The troops asked, “Where is she?” and the others said, “Right here, between us”, which I thought was odd; they would have had to be blind not to see me. (God will, in some cases, physically blind the wicked to protect His saints. They are “hidden with Christ in God”. The spiritual blindness of the OT law and the letter of the Word “veils” the eyes and mind of apostate persecutors.) So they instructed the ones holding me to restrain me, but I calmly stood up straight and tall, and watched as one of the troops lifted an enormous sword (like in the movie Braveheart) high above his head, and in slow motion watched it drop to the crown of my head. It sliced me right in half, all the way to my ankles, and there at my feet were all my clothes and all around my feet was a pile of these diamonds, like I was some sort of grain sack that had been slit open. (Just as Jesus was “the Word made flesh”, so it will be with His disciples. The persecution will reveal this to those who have eyes to see.) I felt the embarrassment of a dream when you are completely naked, yet no one even saw me, so I stood still. The ones holding my arms let go of me and dove on top of my clothing and started tearing them, eating them, ripping them up, and passing them around. (When Jesus was naked and crucified, they parted His garments. The garments of the righteous represent the “righteous acts of the saints”, as in Rev.19:8,14. The apostates devour the righteous through their denigrating words and accusations. (Gal.5:15) But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.) Oddly, everyone wanted some of the fabric, and everyone was gobbling up the diamonds, but completely forgot about me. (In the same way, they will criticize the truths of the Word that the saints have become, but God will reprobate them.) When they turned away to march on, I noticed that no longer were they people, but almost like half-pig, half-human, and the feces that fell behind them were loaded with the diamonds -- unchewed, undigested, and unharmed -- just dirty. (Like sows that had washed, they return to wallow in the mire. The church world and its greedy leadership have polluted the truths of God's Word. They have not digested the true meaning of the Scriptures. Please read all of Eze.34. Verse (Eze.34:18) Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have fed upon the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture? and to have drunk of the clear waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet? 19 And as for my sheep, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.) I reached out, hesitant to touch the “stuff” but saw my hand was covered in a white glove, so I looked for something to put the rescued diamonds in and wondered where I would get water to wash them off. I squatted down and saw (to my relief) that my knees were covered in this satiny, sheer curtain-like fabric, and low down I could hear water trickling. (The humble may go to their knees to find wisdom from God to turn the polluted hearts of the deceived to the pure Word. The white glove represents works of righteousness, as you take the clean water of the Word and Spirit.) I noticed then that ALL OVER the ground lay bodies of dead people. I was horrified and astounded. So I stood up and began to sing. The more I sang, the more clearly I could see the bodies. Some were being eaten by grubs, but others were rather like fertile ground, and when I flipped them over, they were filled with earthworms. In those bodies, I “planted” some of the diamonds, just out of curiosity. Suddenly, I watched the diamonds unfurl, and all the letters began sprouting roots and tendrils; they were alive! I became engrossed in putting out the diamonds, like one planting seeds by hand in a furrow. (The true gospel saves, heals, delivers, and resurrects those who are dead in sin.) When I looked back, the field was filling with people coming out of the ground, who immediately turned to begin tilling the ground and planting bodies! We were all quite busy and a multitude was coming alive. (The sowers of the Word will sow the seed and bring forth life in others, who in turn go to work in the field.) I woke myself up, shook off sleep, got out of bed, and went to start a load of laundry, thinking, ‘Now that was weird!' (We have been exhorted by this dream to clean up the garments of our works so that we are not partakers of the defilements of Babylon by their religious spirits. (Exo.19:10) And Jehovah said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to-day and to-morrow, and let them wash their garments... (Num. 8:21) And the Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes... (31:24) And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean; and afterward ye shall come into the camp.) I have a little box of scripture verses that are about 70 years old, from my grandmother's house, next to my washing machine. So, waiting for the water to fill the tub, I chose a card at random to read; it was (Mat. 7:7) Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Wolves and the John the Baptist Revival Eve Brast - 04/27/2016 (David's notes in red) Wolves of all kinds wait to pick off the new believers in this revival before they can mature. Pray for them, brethren, and do spiritual warfare against the demonic enemies. This repentance revival must succeed, or a great curse will come upon this country. John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah, according to Jesus. (Mal.4:5) Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come. (6) And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Are these apostate leaders the children's fathers? No, the early Church fathers are their fathers. And the Man-child, Bride, and witnesses are their fathers. This revival will point them to these fathers. I dreamed I had just given birth to my son Elijah on top of a large white round table in the center of a cafeteria. My husband was standing to my right and holding my hand. (Her husband represents the Lord.) He was so happy and proud of his new son. We both knew the baby was very special. (I believe this represents the Bride birthing through prayer the John the Baptist revival, which precedes Jesus in the Man-child reformers.) Then, some cafeteria workers posing as hospital nursery employees came to take Elijah to the nursery and asked us if we wanted him circumcised. (Cafeteria workers are they who feed spiritual or, in this case not spiritual food. They are acting as though they are ordained to take care of this revival, to cut away the flesh, but it is they who are flesh. The false leaders always try to hijack any true revival trying to impose their unscriptural foolishness. We must do warfare against this.) My husband emphatically said, “No. That's not necessary anymore”. So they left the room with Elijah. I assumed they would take care of him. (We bind this leaven masquerading as Christianity from this repentance revival.) I then went and got in line with some other people to get a tray of food. The cafeteria workers all had disposable white hair nets. A young, tall, lanky guy and a short woman put various food items on my plate and handed me the tray. I saw that they had put shredded pork on my plate, and I said, “I'm not allowed to eat pork. My husband doesn't allow it”. (This is spiritual. Our Lord does not allow us to partake of their unclean fleshly nature, words, spirits and teachings. Like pigs, their god is their belly.) When my hand touched the tray, I had an open vision. I saw Elijah lying on the floor in pain in another room. The cafeteria workers who had posed as hospital nursery workers had circumcised him and botched the procedure in addition. They had also stuffed pork into his mouth and he was lying there half choked from it. (These apostate ministries cutting off what they call “flesh” from this revival. Their unscriptural, overindulgent lives prove they do not know what flesh is. Adding their pork as a type of their unclean demon doctrines to choke the revival.) When the vision ended, I was back over at the table where I had given birth to Elijah. I was telling my husband what they had done to him, and then the “nursery worker” came up with the dried foreskin in her hand. She had a strange necklace around her neck with many others hanging from it, and she placed Elijah's dried foreskin onto her necklace, too. It was like a bizarre trophy necklace or something. (The demons in the false revival people want to claim this revival as their own for selfish ambition.) My husband was so angry that they did this to his son. I hurried into the room where they had left him to suffer and choke to death. I quickly picked him up and performed the infant version of the Heimlich maneuver on him that I had learned in a CPR class that I took at the hospital. (They must not be cut off from the breath of the Spirit.) I took a white baby blanket and wrapped him up in it, and carried him out of that cafeteria building and walked with him on a white covered concrete walkway over to the large UBM warehouse next door. (Just as John said in (Joh.3:30) He must increase, but I must decrease. The John the Baptist revival will morph into the Man-child revival of the Unleavened Bread and signs and wonders. But for God's people to escape the judgments promised, there must be repentance. This revival must succeed.) THE CONDITION FOR PROPHECY TO COME TO PASS OR NOT AND THE CURSE (Jer.18:1) The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, (2) Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. (3) Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he was making a work on the wheels. (4) And when the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. (5) Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, (6) O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith Jehovah. Behold, as the clay in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel. (This pot has to be handled roughly to get the clay back in a moldable form. This remolding of the clay historically has involved judgment until the clay is repentant.) (7) At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it; (8) if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. (9) And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; (10) if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. (11) Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings. (12) But they say, It is in vain; for we will walk after our own devices, and we will do every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart. Great Holy Spirit Revival & Escape Eve Brast - 05/04/2016 (David's notes in red) I dreamed I was in the spirit, floating right above the waters of the Red Sea. (This is after the Passover that brought death to the Egyptians and freedom to God's people just before the wilderness tribulation on the other side of the sea.) I was looking toward the bank on the shore, which was dark. (The way of escape from Pharaoh's army or martial law is not clear.) I saw a small tongue of fire come down out of heaven and alight on top of the waters. (The tongue of fire is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. (Act.2:3) And there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them. (4) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. This individual tongue of fire is the anointed Man-child from Heaven. This is the Man-child revival that follows the John the Baptist revival. Like Moses they are to bring the people into and through the wilderness tribulation.) Suddenly, all the waters were set on fire and they parted with great force and power as if Moses himself had struck them with his staff! (Jesus in the Man-child by His Word and anointing will divide the sea and make a way of escape from Pharaoh's army and his FEMA camps, as Moses did. (Exo.14:16) And lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thy hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground.) They became two flaming walls of fire, and between them, the tongue of fire landed on the dry seabed, and it lit up the shoreline. (The anointed Man-child made the way of escape clear when it looked impossible.) I could then see a set of 12 stone steps (representing the 12 tribes of New Testament Spiritual Israel) leading down from the top of the shoreline to the seabed. Then all these modern-day people from all the different denominations were lit up in the dark, and they began descending the steps to go across. A man who was also dressed in modern-day clothing was the first to descend and was at the head of them to go into the wilderness and on to the Promised Land. Then I woke up. (What would it take to unify all the true people of God to seek Him and spiritually leave Egypt, as a type of the world, and head toward the promises of the Promised Land? The John the Baptist repentance revival would have wised up many to the bondage of the Pharisees and Sadducees and their dead religion by then. Pharaoh had made slaves of the people of God, somewhat like our Pharaoh, and fierce judgments had fallen on the worldly at Passover. Could this be engineered economic collapse, earthquakes, volcanic activity, and martial law? The judgments on Egypt so the people can escape. I asked the Lord, “Will martial law come?” and got two heads for “yes”. I asked, “Can it be overturned by our faith?” and got two tails for “no”. And this was fulfilled for we are in it now. Pharaoh's army was about to bring them into bondage when God divided the Red Sea. At this point, they were unified by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. (1Co.10:1) For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; (2) and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud [baptism of the Holy Spirit] and in the sea [water baptism].) I asked the Lord, if we went the Trump route, would the earthquakes not come and He said, “No”. In other words, the quakes are coming. They are a sign of the coming Man-child reformers. White Glove Inspection Sandy Shaw - 2/11/18 (David's notes in red) At the beginning of this dream, I am standing in front of an extraordinarily large white house. In real life, there is no way that you would see a house this large on Earth. (At this time, there are no people who this white house can represent but the Bride. Certainly not the larger Church. But the Bride's job is to bring this purity to the Church as did Jesus' early disciples.) The steps leading up to the door were made of gold. (The steps of Gold are the most valuable steps a person could take to go through the door who is Jesus.) But the top step had an adjoining white marble floor that ran throughout the whole house. There are two pillars that start where the gold ends. There were two double doors, bright white (Lampros garment of the Bride) made of a substance that I didn't know. (This entrance represents righteous acts Rev.19:8 And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright [Greek: Lampros] and pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. The gold plates around the door handles had an intricate design around the edges. The handles were of round crystal. I opened the doors and in front of me is a huge room. And I strained my eyes to see how far it goes. Then I looked to the left of me, and there were hundreds of doors to the rooms and the same on the right. I'm wearing a white robe with white gloves to the elbows. (The Bride cleaning her house, representing righteous Works) I went to the first door and went to the upper right-hand corner, and then went diagonally down to the left corner. I opened the door and went into the room and closed the door. And did it again on the opposite side. Then I opened the door. And then I inspected the walls. I took my finger and by my height, I slid it across to the corner. (The white glove inspection. If dirt comes up on the finger, there is unrighteousness in the house of the Bride.) Then, from the wall, I bent down to inspect the floor. It passed inspection, so I walked to the bed, bent down, and put my hand under the bed and then I stood up. Then I looked at the bed. (Representing the rest through faith) It was made up of white satin-like fabric. I can see my handprint from kneeling down, so I took my hands and smoothed out the wrinkle that I had made. (The Bride is the first of the Church to be without spot and wrinkle.) The three white pillows were soft and very inviting. Then I walked to the nightstand and gave it the white glove test. There was a beautiful crystal vase. In it were a dozen white roses all at the perfect stage of openness. (Fruit born through water of the Word – A present from the Groom. Rev. 22:1 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, The fragrance of them was throughout the whole room. Then I looked to see the amount of water in the vase. The only color in this dream was the stems. Then I walked to the window and pushed aside the curtain. The window was so clear that you couldn't see it. (Pure of sight) Then I took my finger and went from the upper right corner to go diagonally to the left. There were two windows in the room. They were open an inch each. A slight breeze was coming in. (Breath of the Holy Spirit) Now there was a coolness that blended with the warmness, and you felt it together to make a perfect temperature. I then checked the curtains, and then I walked to the door. I turned around to look at the room for the last time. I noticed that the curtains were barely moving with a slight breeze. Then I remembered to look up at the ceiling. There was no ceiling...just a beautiful deep blue. (Heavenly perspective. Son shining in.) I did this in all the rooms on the right and on the left. In the huge room, I ran my finger over the floor while walking to the kitchen. The kitchen has a white swivel door. Everything is still white. The first thing I saw was a row of ovens. (To bake the pure unleavened Bread of the Word and Body of the Bride.) I know that there are forty ovens. I walk over to give them the test. Then from there I went to the four vintage farmhouse sinks, and they passed inspection. Then I went to the four huge refrigerators, and I opened them. There was no food in them. (To be pure and white, you must have eaten the food of the bread and wine of the life of Jesus.) Inside was only a rectangular glass container that held water with a silver spigot. (Silver kills contaminants in Water. The Water of the Word must be clean of leaven.) All four refrigerators were the same. Then I did the floor test again. There was a door on the right side of the kitchen that went into a very small hall. This led into a big room. At the other end of the room was a huge chair that looked like it was made for a giant. A man was sitting in it with pure white hair and garment. (Rev.1:13 and in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto a son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle. 14 And his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire.) I walked slowly and said very softly, “Sir,” and he said, “Yes.” The inspection is done.” And he said, “OK.” Then I woke up. My feeling was one of total relief and acceptance from Him, and He was pleased. I received by faith at random this text for this dream: Finger was on vs 26, “he made.” Acts 17:24 The God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25 neither is he served by men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26 and he made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us: 28 for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain even of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29 Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and device of man. 30 The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent: Worldwide Holy Spirit Outpouring Samuel Paguaga - 09/21/2010 (David's notes in red) I think this dream tops all my spiritual dreams in its intensity and revelation. In it, I was in a small gathering of sorts. We were talking and then praying. A bit more had happened before that, but I think the point of this event is that none of what had happened before this mattered. All of a sudden, it was like when you step out of your home straight into the sun at noon. I was overwhelmed with light/energy, not as much as to blind the eyes, but more of a light/energy that penetrated to every cell and fiber of my body. I felt I was no longer physical or fleshly but a new being. As I looked straight forward in front of me, the physical world began to fade, but not because it was disappearing; it was because I began to perceive it in a new way, with new senses, and everything became almost transparent. I looked up and began to speak words in a new language. I was confessing something. Although I could not understand the words, I could feel them in my being. The words were energizing and vibrating my being, my frequency, my entity, my spirit. It was as if all of me became one: my spirit with my mind and my body. As I began to speak, my perception of my surroundings grew. I could feel, perceive, and see all those around me who were experiencing the same thing. First, the two people beside me; then, outwardly, the people in the place; then the whole block; then the city, and then the whole Earth. We, disciples of Christ, were all one and not because we perceived each other, but because we were confessing the same words and because the same flow of energy and power of the Holy Spirit was flowing through us. Although there was a worldwide outpouring, only the vessels of glory, the vessels of light, were filled to the seal. (This could be the first-fruits outpouring at the beginning of the tribulation.) I could feel the power and energy flowing through me, vibrating every part of my being. I spoke words and feelings became more and more intense, so much so that I could not even begin to describe them. I saw everything as white, yellowish, and orange lights, as if everything was transparent. I felt one with the source, at one with the words, and as one with everyone confessing these words. All these feelings of oneness occurred at three distinct levels. All of this along with a feeling of peace; it was as if this was a new nature, and I knew what it was. I experienced the whole thing even when I awoke. It seemed like I knew what was happening. I knew what the source was, what the energy and power was, and the meaning of the words. I woke up shortly afterward, possibly on the last word spoken, although in the dream it seemed like from that point on things would not be the same. As I awoke, I could almost feel the vibration of energy in my being as it dispersed into the normality of my awakened state. I always wondered, what does it mean to be one with God and His Christ and His Spirit ... and now I know.
Pastor Vinnie reads the fifth chapter from Kevin Deyoung's book "The Biggest Story" Advent.
When I think of my level of commitment to Trying things that seem impossible, I realize that it’s not very high. I find myself functioning from a realist mindset based in what I have determined is most likely to happen. While it’s not wrong to have a realistic view of things, there are definitely moments that God calls us to walk by faith and trust him to be the God who can do impossible things! When Moses saw a bush burning on the side of a mountain and went over to check out what was happening I don’t think he was expecting God to speak to him. I don’t think that was even on his radar as a possibility! His reactions to what God had called him to showed a struggle of identity in self, and also in God‘s identity. The Great I AM was ready to answer Moses’s doubts, and walk Moses to faith filled obedience. Moses was not ready. Sometimes God calls, and we want Him to call someone else. But when He calls, He equips, and He goes with and before us. Radical trust in Him leads to incredible things! Join us this Sunday for one of our worship services as we look at what it takes to live radical faith! -Pastor Ben Key Verse: Exodus 3:14 - God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” For this week's Scripture and notes: http://bible.com/events/49496618
The glory of God isn't confined to heaven because it's here, present, and ready to move among us. In this message, Pastor Shelby Crump reminds us that the glory of God can become tangible, like fog that fills the room. Many are searching for something they can't name, but in the midst of God's glory, they will encounter Jesus. The glory of God is uncontainable and unstoppable, unhindered by the enemy, and destined to cover the earth. God is calling laborers to prepare the way for His glory to dwell among His people. Like Moses and Israel, we must desire His presence more than any promise or victory. When we no longer feel the manifest glory of the Lord, our hearts should be broken and stirred to seek Him again. The manifestation of God's glory depends on us, on how we set the atmosphere and keep His presence at the center of everything.
This Sunday, Pastor Blake explored the powerful moment when God meets Moses in the wilderness through a burning bush. In hiding and far from Egypt, Moses encounters a holy God who sees His people's suffering and calls Moses to lead them out. These verses remind us that God often calls us when we feel least qualified, and He promises to be with us. Like Moses, we may question our worth, but God's presence is our strength. He not only sees our pain—He invites us into His plan for deliverance. Want to watch a version of this message? Check out our live broadcast archive at www.declarationchurch.net/live.
No matter what is it that you are walking through or will walk through, hold faithfully to the tasks that God has called you to do for His good and glory. Like Moses, recall and retell what God has stirred up in your heart before. - Chelsey DeMatteis