Category: Uncategorized

The Hostages in Our Lives

I was watching the news this morning showing the emotional reunion of the hostages and their families in Israel.  It got me thinking.  We have hostages right here in Del Norte County! I do not think there is a single family that is missing a loved one who has been taken hostage by drugs and/or alcohol.

I see it over and over again.  Children that were once obedient to their parents are now defiant and act like they hate their parents.  I see husbands and wives walk away from their spouses because of the lure of drugs and/or alcohol.  I see families ripped apart because a parent has turned his or her back on their children in search of the next high.  I see love and respect being replaced with hatred and hope is replaced with depression and hopelessness.

These people have been taken hostage by a lifestyle they cannot escape from without some type of intervention.  They are hooked on a substance that they have convinced themselves they cannot live without. 

I too am one of those families who have been affected by drugs.  My heart hurts not only for my family but for yours!  I look forward to the day each of us will be reunited with our loved ones. 

If your life has been damaged because of drugs, I invite you to join me on a journey of prayer for our community.  Please pray not just for your missing child/husband/wife/mother/father/aunt/uncle/sister/brother etc…. but pray for your neighbors also.

John 8:36 says, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”  Please join me in prayer for our community.  We need Jesus Christ to free our community, to command our hostages be set free.  Ask Jesus to remove the blinders from the hearts of our community and let our loved ones turn to Him and come home to us!

I look forward to your emotional reunion as well as my own!

And I will save thy children!

Isaiah 49:25 But thus saith the Lord, even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children

I have had this scripture stuck in my head for a while now. If you are like me you have been crying out to God to save your children for a long time. We know the Lord wants my children save even more than I do. We know that the Lord hears our prayers. Sometimes the answer does not come quickly.

Still we have to keep praying. We have to keep going to the Lord with our petitions about our children. We cannot lose hope or give up. This scripture tells us the God is going to fight on our behalf.

The word contend means to fight or struggle with. So then we see that the Lord is fighting our battles. We know from Daniel 10:13 that there was a war in the heavenlies for 21 days. Daniel had asked the Lord a question and the answer did not come right away. There was a battle for the answer to come through. Even thou God answered right away, there was opposition to the answer coming through. The angel Michael had to fight to get the answer to Daniel.

I was thinking maybe the reason we do not get an answer is that we just don’t fight anymore. We say a prayer now and again, but we do not pray through for the answer to come. It is like we get lazy in our prayer and just give up if we don’t hear from God quickly on our terms.

I remember shortly after being saved I was very zealous for the Lord. I was very passionate about talking with him and praying my petitions through to completion. I would spend hours in prayer. Crying out to the Lord. Praying in tongues. Worshiping. Not just once in a while, but on a steady basis.

Then somehow for some reason my zeal started to dissipate. If you are like me you can relate to what I am saying. We must remember though is that the Lord is the Lord and we are not. His ways are higher than our ways. We may not get the answer we want in the time we want it, but we cannot lose our hope.

In Isaiah 49:25 the Lord showed me the last portion of the scripture that says “I will save thy children”. This is a promise from the Lord! He says, “I will save thy children”!

Don’t lose hope! Don’t give up! Remember we serve a big God. He cannot lie, when He says He will save our children. We can be assured He will save our children.

Who is louder?

Written by my friend Melissa Ford

  Who are you listening to? You’ve all seen the picture with the devil and the angel so strong on someone’s shoulders trying to get them to listen to them. Right? That’s how it really is if you kind of think about it… I mean, I know I have thoughts where I battle inside my head with what to do. And it’s in daily life tasks, “I should do the dishes, I should fold the laundry, I shouldn’t watch so much tv”, right. But it’s also about the spiritual life, salvation. “I should read my Bible, but I don’t have time.” I should play with my daughter, but I’m so tired. I should be a mentor to her, show her how a Godly woman keeps a house, plays with her children, basically teaches her to be a decent hardworking, God fearing woman of God, but can I just rest for now.” This is a war inside your mind, and it literally is the enemy planting seeds of doubt, stress, and burden into you. The thing is, the enemy doesn’t know if you heard him until you listen to him.” He is not omnipresent, he is not everywhere all at one, but he has demons and devils who will try to attach themselves to you, if you allow it…if you listen. That is the only way they know they have ground to stand on, because you bought into their lies and deceit. He is not omniscient, he does not know what is in your head until you show him, by who you listen to. The Bible tells us that Jesus told His disciples that He had to go, so the Holy Spirit could come. The beautiful thing about the Holy Spirit is that He is God in the spirit!! That means He is omnipotent all powerful, omnipresent everywhere all at once, and omniscient-He already knows everything! He knows who we will listen to, before we listen to them. He knows we will listen to the wrong voice, but He still tells us how we should live, what we should do, or not do. He is the still small voice inside, and He is is a gentleman. He will not take over until you invite Him to. And yet He still pursues us even when He know we will not listen…
  That’s really incredible! Who does that? Who will persist and persist and pursue someone who does not want to be pursued? Me? You? I doubt it. I don’t have the time for that, right? My first thought, Umm nope, I don’t have the heart to continue to pursue someone who does not want to be pursued. Is that a good thought, no! Heavens no, because He called us to be like Him and that’s exactly what He does! That is a fault of mine, an imperfection. I have so many!! I am by far perfect, not even close. I in this moment am not who I should be in Christ. And I know it. I was thinking about this today, the Holy Spirit has been wooing me, ever so gently and ever so softly.

  I can’t tell you how long I have pushed back, not listening to Him, not allowing Him control. I’m in this moment actively still not quite sure who I am listening to more… Who is louder in my life? It’s a serious question, who is louder? Life is hard. Sometimes it sucks, like a lot. A lot, a lot, a lot.
I’d like to share a true story of my life, most have probably heard it, some maybe not. A little over 8 years ago, I delivered my first born daughter Morgynn. Matt and I had difficulty getting pregnant and so when we found out I was pregnant we were overjoyed. It was something we wanted so very badly. My first 20 weeks of pregnancy were bliss, we were over the moon. At my 20 week ultrasound we had my mom and Matt’s mom with us so they could share the excitement of finding out what we would be having. The ultrasound seemed normal to me, I had no reason to think otherwise, until after when we met the doctor in the other room. She told us they found something on the ultrasound that was concerning, so they wanted us to follow up with MFM (maternal fetal medicine). They weren’t exactly sure what was wrong, it was either a cyst on her lung, or her diaphragm hadn’t grown correctly allowing her lower abdomen content to crowd her chest cavity (Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia) CDH. Of course when I got home I researched it and was traumatized by what I found. It is rare 1 in 2500(last I looked). The survival rate is 50%, so I had half a chance she would survive this, if it was this. When I got home and found this out I was crushed. I cried, curled up on the bed and yelled at God in my own way. I was sooo mad at Him! Why, how could He do this when “people who were not as good as me” get to have babies so easily! I remember saying “I don’t even want to be pregnant then!” I couldn’t get past being mad at Him for a while. I got depressed, I wouldn’t worship in church. I didn’t think God deserved any of my praise, I was so angry with Him. I remember Donna coming to me in the pews and praying for me. Probably cause I looked like daggers were coming out of my eyes. I didn’t want to even hear praises, I was mad!! I didn’t want to be at church. We had our appointment and it was confirmed that she had CDH. We were given the option of termination or we could see some specialists at UCSF. I didn’t even think twice, no way could I not fight for her. At that moment, something in my heart changed, who I listened to changed. I just knew I could try. I think at that point maybe my heart softened, a teeny bit. I started to hope, and we started to pray. We had several appointments at UCSF. They wanted, offered a fetal surgery in which they would put a little balloon inside her throat, to allow back pressure, which would hopefully allow her lungs to grow. We prayed about it. The surgery was high risk and I could go into premature labor. I felt like it was too risky. I believed in that moment that God would heal her and she would be an overcomer. I didn’t have too many doubts. I was choosing in that moment Who was louder to me! I allowed the Holy Spirit to take over my fear and He began to lift me up. My faith grew and grew. When I was induced, you couldn’t tell me she wasn’t going to survive. I wouldn’t believe it, even when the doctors and social worker told me in the room that she had a 2% chance of survival. I didn’t want to Hear it! Now they made me mad, lol. Maybe I have a problem, lol. I get mad, and don’t listen, and I’m done with the conversation. Just ask my husband. I told you I’m not perfect, another one of my imperfections. So I was induced and pushed in the OR so they could pass her to the neonatal team through a small door in the wall where they had a team of doctors just for her. They had told us at one of the appointments that they didn’t want her to cry, they needed to control her lungs ASAP. She came out and she cried, and it was the most beautiful cry I’ve ever heard. The only cry I would ever hear. She ended up with bilateral chest tubes, and within the first couple hours she was placed on ECMO, extra corporeal membrane oxygenation. Her lungs and heart were too weak to sustain her own oxygenation, so the machine -a huge machine did it for her. It went into her right jugular vein, which they told us would never be accessible again. At that point we wanted them to do whatever they could to keep her alive and give her a fighting chance. She had wires everywhere. We would sit at her warmer for hours and watch. Some of the nurses wouldn’t let me touch her, or if they did they said just place a hand on her, they didn’t want us to stimulate her too much. She was on a paralytic and pain medicine. They would attempt to decrease her paralytic to see how she would do, but if she moved too much it was titrated back up. I stood by her warmer and sang to her and stared more than I’d like to admit at the monitors and numbers. My nurse brain wanted to focus on the numbers because my mommy brain was overwhelmed seeing what was happening to my baby girl. I have a sweet video of her coming off of the paralytic and sedation enough to react as small as it was, to my singing. In the video she opens her eyes in response to my voice, one of if not, the only times she looked at me. I look back and realize during those days, who was louder did vary, but I chose to listen to the Holy Spirit. It was touch and go daily. She would overcome hurdles and then take a turn for worse. She was in the ICN, Intensive Care Nursery and there were hardly any chairs, it was not easy to stay there for long periods. Every time I left I felt guilty for not staying more. The morning of the day she died we went to breakfast at a restaurant. I hate that I wasn’t there for her all day. It still makes me feel guilty. It’s one of the louder voices that I hear. When they took her off of ECMO the evening before she passed away, her appearance changed dramatically. She lost so much fluid and looked like a different baby in the morning. There was one nurse that was so amazing. She let me change her diaper, and encouraged me to touch her and participate in her care. She came in on her night off when they extubated her and she passed in my arms. I told her I didn’t know how she did that job, I could never do it. She was an angel. We held her for the first time in her final moments, as she breathed her last breath. You know what’s beautiful about it, the loudest voice in my head urged me to worship God in that moment. I sang to her the praises of the Lord as she entered his presence. “How great is our God” is the one I remember the most. There was, there is no doubt in my mind that she is in heaven. I knew it with everything in my body, that voice held me during that time. At my one of the most tragic times in my life, and for a while after I felt closer to God than I ever have. I felt joy that was unexplainable, hope and peace that could only come from my Loving Father in heaven. I was at my strongest faith during one of the absolute worse things a parent can go through. I stood up at her funeral and sang praises crying because of her short life. My brother and sister in law called her Miracle Morgynn because of how her story touched others lives. She was only here for 13 days and she made a huge impact. God had a purpose for her. Today I am not as close to God as I was during that time. I’ve allowed other voices to be louder in my life. I still go through periods now where I am upset and hurt that she isn’t here. My thoughts shift and doubt creeps in. “I believe Lord, but help my unbelief” is so true. I don’t understand why we had to lose Morgynn and I probably won’t while I’m on this earth. But I can remember how at my lowest and most painful part of my life, I honestly did feel the most comfort, peace, joy and rest. I relinquished my heart, my hurt, my pain to the Lord and He held me and loved me in a way I can’t explain. I want to get back to that place, the place where I utterly give everything to Him and let Him carry me where He will. I couldn’t control the situation with Morgynn, so I had no choice to give it to God. I sure hope it doesn’t take another tragedy for me to get me to that place. This thought just came into my head as I was getting ready today and my thoughts wandered. I just stopped and thought “Who is louder?” Who am I listening to? Am I allowing the voice of the enemy to stop me from the will of God and doing His purpose? It’s up to me who I listen to. The enemy or that sweet, still small voice of the Holy Spirit. Will I make the right choice every time? No, because I am not perfect. I do know that if I allow the voice of God to be louder, I will plant myself on the path of righteousness. Will I stumble and fall? Yes, we all will – we are not perfect. There was only one man who is perfect, our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only one among us who is perfect. And even he had to decide who was going to be louder to him! He had the voice of the enemy tempting him as well and it was hard. He chose to allow the will of the Father to be louder and in doing so created a way for everyone who believes in Him to have a way to Heaven. There is none among us who is perfect. Temptations will come, thoughts from the next will creep in. We have the choice to chose whom we will listen to, whom we will serve. So once again, think about who is louder in your life?

Child Like Faith

Today I want to talk about having child like faith. If you have been a believer for any length of time, you have heard the saying to have the faith of a child. If you are not a believer or have never heard that saying you will not understand what I am talking about. There is a scripture in the bible that tells us to be like children.

Matthew 18:1-4 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? (2) And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them. (3) And said, Verily I say unto you, Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. (4) Whosoever, therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

I have been a follower of Jesus for twenty years. During those years I have heard many messages preached on this scripture or on this thought. I have heard many explain what it means to be like a little child. I myself have preached on the thought of how God wants us to be like little children. In fact if we have been born again, if we are a believer in Jesus the Messiah; we have been born of the Spirit and have the right to be called a child of God.

John 1:12-13 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (13) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Even though the scriptures say sons of God in this passage, God is telling us that if we believe on His Son Jesus Christ, if we have a relationship with His Son, we are born into the family of God! Have you ever stopped to think about what that means? If you call on Jesus Christ, ask Him into your heart, you are a child of God. A child of God! 

1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knows us not, because it knew him not.

The Father! Our Father!

I did not grow up with a father so I did not really have any basis for beginning to understand how to relate to God as my father. I did not have any example of what a father was supposed to look like. I have seen a lot of fathers. I have seen them behave badly to their children and I have seen them behave great to their children. But I did not have that type of relationship with my father. He left when I was two years old. So when I became a believer in Jesus, God had to show me what a good father looks like. I can tell you from my own experiences God truly is a good, good father. 

So, we have a heavenly Father! He loves us very much! He wants to protect us! He wants us to be like children. What does that look like? 

I have friends that have school age children. Their children go to public school. If you have been following the news at all you know that our public schools are going to hell in a handbasket. What they are teaching our children is sick, twisted, and perverted. I actually thought because I live in a small town, that type of teaching would not touch us. But I was wrong.

My friends son was in English class the other day and the teacher started reading from a book out loud to the class. It was describing the fantasy a boy was having about bathing a girl and it was describing how the boy felt while looking at the girl. I will not go into details, but I am sure you can follow what I am saying. This was being read in a seventh grade classroom! 

My friends son took a picture of the page and sent it to his mom. Attached to the picture was as text that simply said “Help”. This boy has a relationship with God that is strong. Even though he is young, he wants to stay clean and pure for God. He did not want to go to the dark place that book was bringing him. He quickly called for HELP!

His parents sprung into action! His dad went into the school and demanded his son not be in that class anymore. His parents went to the school superintendent to see if they knew what was being taught in that class. His parents went to the police station to see what could be done to protect their son from a teacher acting as a pedophile.

While I was praying for their son and really all the children in our public schools God showed me a couple of things I want to share with you. 

God is our father! He wants to protect us from the darkness of this world. He does not want us drawn into a life of darkness and sin. He wants to protect us from the darkness that wants to corrupt us. My friends jumped to action. As the boys dad, he quickly ran to his child! He quickly pulled him out of the classroom. He sprung to the defense of his child and removed him from the presence of evil and darkness. 

The boy was defenseless as a child. He did not have the necessary means to protect himself from the temptations the enemy was trying to put in his mind. As a child he needed the help of his father to intervene in the situation. The son needed his father to pull him out of danger and protect him. And I must say kudos to my friend for being such a good father! I commend him for springing into action to protect his child. That is how God wants to be with us! He wants to protect us! He wants to pull us out of danger! We wants to keep us safe!

The other side of the story is the son. He did not sit there while temptation was pulling on him. He did not sit quietly while the enemy tried to plant images in his mind that would stay with him the rest of his life. He quickly called out for HELP! That is all we need to say to God. HELP!

So many times we get involved in things we should not have been messing with. Maybe we dabbled in things that now have us hooked. Maybe we are dealing with something that isn’t sin, but is consuming our thoughts. Maybe we need financial help. Maybe we need encouragement. Maybe we need rest. Whatever it is we need, we have a Heavenly Father who is ready to spring into action! We are His children! We have the privilege of calling on our Heavenly Father to help us.

Why not be like a child and ask God to help you today? How about we stop sitting quietly by while the enemy hooks us and pulls us away from God? How about we simply say HELP! I assure you, your Heavenly Father will come running to help you, to protect you. I pray we will all learn to be like my friends son! I pray we will all learn to call on our Heavenly Father to help us.

I May Not Be Long with You

Have you ever felt a need to share something with someone? I have been feeling this need for a while now. I do not know if my days on earth are short because of sickness or if the church about to meet Jesus in the air. Maybe it is just because I have turned 61 and I do not have the excitement of life in front of me. In my spirit I feel God would have me say some things to you before I go.

I am writing this in January 2024. I was born in 1962. I can tell you there have been many changes in my lifetime. I can remember when we only had 3 channels to choose from on the television. The television in my home as a child was only black and white, no color. The television stations only stayed on part of the night. When they went off the air there would only be static on the screen. Cartoons only came on television on Saturday mornings. I can remember when they invented the handheld hair blow dryer. I wanted one so bad, but we were poor and purchasing a hair dryer was not an option for my family. I can also remember it was a simpler time. People had respect for each other. There was a belief in God. Even if you didn’t follow him, you didn’t mock him or provoke him. I remember when men were men, women were women, boys were boys, and girls were girls.

When I look around at America today, I do not recognize her. Everything that used to be called good has changed into something bad. It seems like common sense has flown out the window. Seems like the mindset of foolishness has taken hold of our nation. But I guess that is to be expected when we kick God out of our nation and out of our life. 

Sometimes I want so badly to turn back the clock and go back to a simpler time. Go back to a time when right was right and wrong was wrong. Go back to a time when morals were something of value. Go back to a time when the innocence of our children was in full force. Go back to a time when life was an excited journey that we were all willing to take.

I so desperately want to tell you that we cannot look back, nor should we want to. Take a moment to survey the horizon and see what you see. Life as we knew it is not coming back. The times have shifted and the innocence that once was is gone. The darkness is all around us and if we do not fight it will choke the very life out of us. Yet, it is all in God’s control. 

He told us repeatedly what the times of the end were going to look like. He gave us markers to look for. He gave us signs to point the way. But above all else He gave us a way to keep hope alive.

Luke 21:7-28 So they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?” (8) And He said: Take heed that you not be deceived, For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them. (9) “But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.” (10) Then He said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. (11) “And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sight and great sings from heaven. (12) “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake. (13) “But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. (14) “Therefore settle it in you hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; (15) For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. (16) “You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. (17) “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. (18) “But not a hair of your head shall be lost. (19) “By your patience posses your souls. (20) “But when you see Jerusalem surround by armies, then know that it desolation is near. (21) “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. (22) “For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. (23) “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. (24) ”And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (25) “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring: (26) “men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. (28) “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.

A couple of things I want to point out. First this is not the only description of what we will face living in the time we are living in. I will write more about that in later posts. Second the times we are living in are not as bad as what is described above, yet.

The point I really want to focus on is in verse 28. It tells us to look for these things to being to happen. To watch how events around the world and here at home are unfolding. Pay attention to what is happening. Learn to be sensitize to the Spirit. Learn to have discernment. And then look up! 

When all this mess is happening, we can wallow in our darkness allowing ourselves to become depressed. Or. We can look up. Look up! Look up! Your redemption draws near. Your savior is coming! Your Savior Is Coming!

The best hope I can give you when things begin to look dark and hopeless is that Jesus tells us we will be caught away to be with him. We will miss the worse part of this. No matter how bad it gets, we will be spared from the worst part. We will all be changed in a moment in a twinkling of an eye, the Bible says. Oh how much wonderful hope is that? 

Look up children of God! Look up! Get yourselves ready! Take a lesson from the parable of the ten virgins. Get yourself ready! Spend time with your Lord. You do not want him to say depart from me I never knew you! Lift up your head! Tell yourself to not be downtrodden. You have hope! You have Jesus!

If you do not know Jesus, I pray you call on Him today! Call on Him now! Please do not delay! Today can be your day to be filled with hope!

A word from my son Donny

So, I’ve come through these walls numerous times before. I’ve seen myself be evil, bad, mad, sad, lost, hurt, everything except for truly happy. I’ve seen other men come through here with a sense of happiness about them who claimed “that they were saved” — “they found God”

Well, I’ve always been a believer in God I guess-but never really put much thought into it. Until now. I am now a knowing believer in Jesus Christ. I once used to mock or make fun of people–calling them weak because of my now same way of life. Someone with the tiniest piece of faith, then they can be saved.

If you are interested in seeking wisdom, knowledge, understanding to achieve direction, purpose and salvation–then read on. Ask yourself this: where have we humans come from? We are much too smart and genius to come from a fish or an accident. We come from someone who made us. Someone much more smart then we are.

God! God created us in His image. He made us to glorify Him- to worship Him. To seek Him – our creator

Dedication

By My Friend Toni

We are now in the season of the Feast of Dedication, better known as Hanukkah. Also referred to as the Feast of Lights. Every year, for over 2,200 years, Jews have celebrated this festival commemorating the miracle that occurred when the oil to light the huge menorah in the second Temple burned for eight days, despite that only being enough for one day. The background for this story, which is historical, can be found in the Catholic Bible. It can be read in I Maccabees 1:20-60, 4:36-57 and II Maccabees 10:1-8. The Seleucid King, Antiochus Epiphanes, came into Israel with his army, and overpowered the Jews. He forced them to stop honoring the Sabbath, and all things related to their religion, or pay with their lives. He demanded that the Jews adopt his religion, and sacrifice to idols. The Temple was desecrated, damaged, and the things dedicated to the worship of God were taken. The Temple was called “the temple of Olympian Zeus”, due to the idols of Zeus being placed there. A high priest of the tribe of Benjamin was placed in charge, who was willing to bow to Antiochus’s wishes. When a country priest by the name of Mattathias was commanded to be the first to sacrifice an animal on an alter of an idol, he refused. Another Jewish man stepped forward to do it. Mattathias turned on the officer who had demanded the sacrifice, and slew him. He then tore down the idol He said, “Let everyone who is zealous for the low, and stands by the covenant follow me!” Then the fight was on. His five sons and several tough men, who were loyal to God, engaged in guerilla warfare. After Mattathias passed away, one of his sons, Judas, became the leader of the revolt. After successfully expelling their enemies, the Temple needed a good cleaning and rededication. There was found only enough dedicated oil for the large menorah for one day. They decided to go ahead and use it. Coming into the temple the next day they expected the light to have gone out, but miraculously it was still burning, and continued for eight days. By that time enough oil had been made available. A reference to the Feast of Dedication can be found in John 10:22. It was then that Jesus was asked if He was the Messiah the people were looking for. In their minds, the Messiah would be Judas Maccabee, breaking the yoke of Roman rule from off their necks. However, Jesus had a mission to accomplish before He took on the role of conquering King.

Hanukkah speaks of sanctification, dedication, and the light of the Holy Spirit in our lives. One of these days, our Messiah will return to set up His kingdom and all those who have lived dedicated lives for Him will have the privilege of ruling and reigning with Him. This festival season, light up the world with the light of Jesus

HAPPY HANUKKAH

A Nation in need of Repentance

Hosea 6:1-3 (1) Come, and let us return unto the Lord; for he hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and he will bind us up. (2) After two days will He revive us: in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight. (3) Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

A couple of weeks ago, the LORD woke me up at 4:30 am with Hosea 6 burning in my head. I could not get way from it. I opened my bible and read the first three verses in Hosea 6. When I asked the LORD what He was telling me, I heard Him say 5:15.

Hosea 5:15 I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

What was the offence they needed to acknowledge? Verse 3 in chapter 5 tell us, I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.

Now I fully understand Hosea was talking to Israel in the Old Testament. But I also know how the LORD speaks. I know He can use the Old Testament to speak to us today.

The LORD is telling to get right! He has watched as we have figuratively been a whore by chasing after other gods. His heart has broke while He watched us push Him out of our families, our government, our society. He watched as we have turned His love into a thing of compromise. He watched as we turned his grace as a excuse to follow our own wants and desires. He has watched as we have turned…..

He is asking me to tell you we, as a nation, need to acknowledge our offense. We, as a nation, need to repent for our actions.

A lot of ministers I listen to right now are talking about the latter and the former rain. Yes, the LORD does want to pour out His rain. He wants to flood the earth with His presence in such a way as we have never seen.

God does not change. He clearly tells us what we must do to have the former and latter rain. We must repent. We must repent. We must repent. That is the only way, that is what the LORD requires.

Remember 5:15 says he will return to His place….. Do we really want that? You and I both know, we are a stubborn and stiff-necked people. Much like the Israelites wondering in the wilderness, we only turn to the LORD when things get bad. Things are pretty bad right now. But they can get worse.

I had someone tell me to be careful about rebuking the people. Believe me, I am not trying to deliver this in a spirit of rebuke. When the LORD spoke this to me at 4:30 in the morning, it was not in a spirit of rebuke. It was in a spirit of pleading. I felt like His heart was breaking at the thought of having to go and return to His place. I felt that He is wanting the nations to “come and let us return to the LORD”

The Compromising Church

THE COMPROMISING CHURCH

God has been speaking to me about the compromising church. Who is the church? We are the church, both corporately and individually.

Rev 2:12-17 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, ‘These things says He who has the sharp two edged sword. (13) I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is, and you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. (14) but I have a few things against you because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality, (15) Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I have. (16) Repent, or else I will come o you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. (17) He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit say to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.

VS 14 The Doctrine of Balaam (The doctrine of compromise) In order to understand the doctrine of compromise. We must go back to the Old Testament and learn who Balaam was.

Numbers 22-24 tells about Balaam who was a magician, who wanted to have the status as a Prophet of God, he liked to look like a prophet to the people of the land. Balak was a Moabite king who saw Israel come into his land and he did not want any part of them being there. So he sent messengers to Balaam to ask him to come curse Israel.

Numbers 22

  • Balak believed that the outcome of war was dependent on the gods. So he sent for Balaam to curse the Israelites so that they can be defeated.
  • Balaam was a magician who wanted to look like a prophet in the eyes of the people when in fact he was actually a magician. (vs7) So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner’s fee in their hand.
  • Balaam means false teacher
  • Vs8 & vs 19 Balaam made s show of being uncompromising. He made it look like he was obedient to God. “Stay here the night and I will seek the LORD” In fact in vs18 he says even if Balak were to give him a house full of silver and gold he could not go against the word of the LORD. (Yet God had already said no) In his heart he was already compromising.
  • In vs32 the angel of the LORD says he stands against him because his way is perverse before Him.
    • Way = a road, a coarse of life, mode of action, along, away, because of, by conversation, custom, journey, manner, passenger, through, toward
    • God was angry because of the journey in his heart. He was willing to compromise. He grabbed hold of the thought of all that gold and silver being offered and thought maybe God would change his mind. In his heart he had compromised
  • In vs32 Balaam said he sinned because he did not know the angel of the Lord was standing in the way.
    • His spiritual eyes were closed. (that spirit of compromise had blinded his eyes to the spirit realm and he did not even know it, he had gone through the motions, he thought he was so tuned into the spirit world, when really he was blinded and probably a little deaf to it.)
    • Notice he said he sinned because he did not see the Angel of the Lord. He sinned because he was blind to the spirit realm.
    • He wanted the money; he was on a journey not to do what God wanted, but to get his hands on the gold and silver.
    • He figured he could find a way to get the money and still find a way to obey God
  • How many times have we done the same thing? We say we are fully committed to do what the LORD wants, but in our hearts we are hoping He will change his mind or allow us to bend the rules.
    • Wives sometimes make a big show of making sure people know they are fully submitted to their husbands. “I will ask my husband” “If my husband says yes” etc… Is what they say around other men and women? But then when it is something they really want they do not ask their husbands, and sometimes they only tell them after the fact or if it is something the husband asks about. Or in the privacy of their own homes they are stubborn and rebellious. I have seen it with the way they treat their children, the way they handle money, they way they spend their time. Outwardly they appear uncompromising, but God sees our heart, he knows our true motives.
  • Question: What has the church of America become? Has she become a church of compromise? Seeking what the world has to offer so that she is spiritually blind?
    • I have listened to many television preachers who are living in the darkness of compromise. It causes me much prayer when I think of all the people who are following them and being led astray by their spiritual blindness.
    • Those spiritual leaders of the church are condoning drinking wine; they are mixing other religions in with Christianity. They are compromising on the word of God. They are making excuses for their behavior. They are allowing things in the church that God would never allow. God does not change, His word does not change. What was wrong in the past is still wrong today.
  • Question: What about you and me? Have we become a church of compromise? Maybe it’s not money that has the allowed the spirit of compromise to blind you. Maybe it’s a lust for power that has caused your spiritual eyes to dim. Maybe it’s a lust for accolades that has caused you to make exceptions for certain people and that what has caused your spiritual eyes to dim.
  • It is time to turn back to the right path
  • In vs20 God allowed Balaam to follow the desire of his heart and God will allow you and me to follow the desires of our own lusts. But there will not be approval in it. God will never bless what goes against His word. He said to be Holy as He is Holy.
  • Right now in churches across America the people are even beginning to worship Baal. They may not know it, but they are. They have sinned because their spiritual eyes are blind. They are practicing something called Ekstasis (Ecstasy) look it up on You Tube. What they are doing is compromising; they are allowing other gods into their worship.

The Doctrine of the Nicolaitans (A doctrine God hates)

  • Nicolas means “one who conquers the people. Irenaeus writes that Nicolas, who was made a deacon in Acts 6, was a false believer, who later became apostate, but because of his credentials he was able to lead the church astray, And like Balaam, he led the people into immorality and wickedness. The Nicolaitans, followers of Nicolas, were involved in immorality and assaulted the church with sensual temptations. Clement of Alexander says, “The abandoned themselves to pleasure like goats, leading a life of self-indulgence. Their teaching perverted grace and replaced liberty with license.
  • The doctrine of the Nicolaitans appears to have been a form of antinomianism. Which is a belief that is based upon recognition of the mercy of God as the ground of salvation, but it makes the fatal mistake that man can freely partake in sin because the Law of God is not longer binding. It held the truth on the gratuitous reckoning of righteousness; but supposed that a mere intellectual “belief” in this truth had saving power. (http://www.wordoftruthradio.com/questions/38.html)
  • The bible teaches us that salvation is a free gift, based upon God’s grace alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). However, the very next verse tells us that “we are created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10)
  • True faith produces action, as well as a desire for holiness and obedience. (1 John 3:18, Titus 2:11-15, 1 Peter 1:15-16, Revelation 14:12)
  • By the time the 2nd century rolled around the Nicolaitans seemed o have continued and extended the views of the 1st century adherents, holding to the freedom of the flesh and sin, and teaching that the deeds of the flesh had no effect upon the health of the soul and consequently no relation to salvation. On the other hand, the bible teaches that Christians are supposed to “die” to sin and the deeds of our “flesh”: Romans 6:1-2, Romans 6:11-13
  • There is a teaching right now that basically says that because of the Grace of God we no longer have to repent of sins. Because of what Jesus did for us we can live a life of effortless success! We no longer have to live a life free of sin because of what Jesus did for us. This is a lie, and this is a doctrine God hates. Do not be deceived!

Both of these men Balaam and Nicolas brought the Israelites to a state of compromise, that same spirit of running rampant on the earth today. People are living in a state of compromise and they don’t even know it. If we were honest we could all say we have places in our lives where we live in compromise. We tell little white lies, we act one way in church and another way outside of church, leadership allows people to be in positions they should not be in, we gossip, we backbite, we make a big deal of looking all holy to the people of God, then as soon as we are out of their presence all the ugliness in our hearts comes gushing out. Then instead of running to God in a place of repentance, asking Him to clean up, heal us, change us; we make excuses for our behavior, we justify our actions.

What about when we say we trust God, then we run around trying to solve our problems ourselves?

What about when we say we believe God is our healer, except for this or so and so?

What about how we set standards for how people should behave then we make excuses for people in our own family.

Do we really think God is pleased with our compromise, with our justification?

The compromising church is very dangerous because it puts a stumbling block before the church. Remember they are watching, but most of all God is watching.

That spirit of compromise is running rampant in our churches and in our lives. With it is deception. We are worshiping other gods, we are compromising the Word of God and we are bringing judgment down on ourselves.