Firefighter

When you think of a firefighter, you don't imagine someone fleeing from the danger, seeking comfort and safety far from the flames, correct? More likely people imagine a firefighter running head on into the danger ready to risk life and limb to put out that fire.

The Church should be like firefighters. The darkness in the world is the fire and the light of God in us and His Word is the water (He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. John 7:38). Too often Christians seem to not only retreat at the first hint of discomfort, but many flee from it. What happens to a fire that the firefighter refuses to fight? Does it just go away? Not until it consumes everything in its path. So why does the Church think that ignoring the darkness in the world is the right course of action? This attitude is the exact opposite of what Jesus taught. It is also the exact opposite of the actions of the Apostles. When we look at them we see an unstoppable force changing the world. Today we are so concerned with blending in with the world there remains little hope to be able to affect any kind of real change.

If we are going to call ourselves Christians should we not then take the words of Christ seriously? He was serious when He gave us the great commission. He was serious when He told us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and even when He said to love our enemy. He was serious when He said that if we loved Him we would follow His commandments. When you look at history and consider the Christians that have had the biggest impact for good in this world, you will see they are the one’s who took the words of Jesus to heart.

So let me ask you, what are we waiting for? We are to be the salt of the earth and light in the world. If the salt looses its flavor, what good is it? If the light is hidden, what effect could it hope to have in the dark? There is a saying, “As goes the Church, so goes the world.” We can’t expect anything to improve if we are unwilling to act.

15 Things God WON'T Ask You

Before I share this list I would first like to say I did not come up with it. A girl on my Facebook page shared the message her Pastor spoke of in church. I do not know his name or I would share it here to give him credit. I fully agree with his message so I wanted to share it here with you guys. I found it to be incredibly thought-provoking. With that being said, here are the fifteen things God won't be asking you.

1. God won’t ask what kind of car you drove, but will ask how many people you drove who didn’t have transportation.

2. God won’t ask the square footage of your house, but will ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

3. God won’t ask about the fancy clothes you had in your closet, but will ask how many of those clothes helped the needy.

4. God won’t ask... about your social status, but will ask what kind of class you displayed.

5. God won’t ask how many material possessions you had, but will ask if they dictated your life.

6. God won’t ask what your highest salary was, but will ask if you compromised your character to obtain that salary.

7. God won’t ask how much overtime you worked, but will ask if you worked overtime for your family and loved ones.

8. God won’t ask how many promotions you received, but will ask how you promoted others.

9. God won’t ask what your job title was, but will ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.

10. God won’t ask what you did to help yourself, but will ask what you did to help others.

11. God won’t ask how many friends you had, but will ask how many people to whom you were a true friend.

12. God won’t ask what you did to protect your rights, but will ask what you did to protect the rights of others.

13. God won’t ask in what neighborhood you lived, but will ask how you treated your neighbors.

14. God won’t ask about the color of your skin, but will ask about the content of your character.

15. God won’t ask how many times your deeds matched your words, but will ask how many times they didn’t.
 

The Darkness Comes

Ever since I was a child God has given me dreams of the future of America. The earliest I can remember occurred when I was in first grade. These dreams always involve war on American soil, troops on our streets, and the persecution, imprisonment, and martyrdom of American Christians.

We keep talking about and waiting for revival. Revival is coming. I believe it, but I feel in my gut that this will not come until after the trouble falls. I feel like it will require dark times to really wake the Western church from it's slumber. Revival can not come if we are sleeping. The Western church has had great comfort, and it is this comfort that has lulled us to sleep.

All the nations where the church is fully awake are the nations where taking a stand for your faith has a price. When people find themselves willing to pay this price they then recognize it's value. People have to decide how much Jesus is worth to them. They need to know what their faith really means.

Soon we in the Western world will also find ourselves having to make this same decision. When we decide for Him, no matter the cost, the Holy Spirit will raise up in God's remnant and spread like a wildfire. He will move like He did in the book of Acts! There will be great moves of God and also great persecution. It will be the best of times and it will be the worst of times. The light always shines brightest when it is the darkest.

The Thrashing Serpent

Wow! I just received a pretty awesome revelation. It's not that it's even something I didn't already have head knowledge of, but it was one of those moments where it just jumped out and me and became more than just head knowledge. It became REAL.

So I've been dealing with something for about a week now. I recognized it early on as an advance by the adversary to cause me to lose focus from God and His will and to instead focus on this other area that felt threatened. I'm sorry to say that he had been successful in keeping me distracted. Even though I recognized it, I did a pitiful job at resisting it.

The revelation came while I was in prayer over this tonight. I had to realize first that whatever God has willed for my life the enemy can’t touch it. Not if I remain firmly planted in Christ. His will is so much more powerful than any tactic they might use against it. But wait, that’s not the revelation I was talking about. That comes next!

Okay I believe it’s in Genesis when the first prophecy of the coming Messiah is given. It says that the serpent will bruise His heel, but that He will crush the serpents head. Well get this! At this point that’s not a future event. The serpent’s head has already been crushed. It happened at the Cross! The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus was the death blow to the devil. You may ask, “Well what about all the bad things that have gone on since then? What about the beast system and tribulation to come?”

When a snake has been decapitated or its head is crushed the nerves in it’s body continue to fire for a little while causing it to thrash about. Well it’s just like that! The devil and his whole kingdom is thrashing about because they’ve already received the death blow. The Bible speaks of Satan as roaming the earth seeking whom he may devour and that he knows his time is short. Well, yeah! Of course his time is short. Jesus heel has ALREADY crushed the head of the serpent! He’s already won!

I realize some on here aren’t sure when to take my words literal or not, so I should specify. No I don’t literally mean that the devil is dead. Though any hope he could have ever had of victory against God died at the cross. Now like a snake after receiving a fatal blow, he is thrashing around, but nothing more can ever come from it.

Spirit-Filled Journaling

I wanted to share with you guys an idea I've had. I actually used to do this frequently, but then got out of the habit for a while. I'm planning to start back soon though, because I can see a real difference in my spiritual life when I practice this. So I thought that I would put it out there for those of you who might be interested as well.

Have you ever heard of spirit journals or something along these lines? The idea is to journal about different things that have some spiritual significance to you. Well I've come up with my own version of that, which I call a Spirit-filled journal. For every entry I make, I'll put the date and time on it, then write down any thing that feels significant. Whether it be dreams or thoughts that I've had and felt were important, if I feel that God is putting something on my mind, if there is something that I have been pondering over, or something I have been praying about; I will write that down. Later I will come back to record any follow-up or confirmation I have received. The more detailed the entries are the better. This way later when coming back to it I might come across some small detail that I would have forgotten, but may have an impact at a future date.  When I am doing this it seems to help me better understand what God is trying to get across to me. 

This is also an excellent way to view one's own spiritual growth. I can see how thoughts that I've had have been corrected, altered, or fleshed out along the way. When I do this regularly it is a very useful tool in my walk with God and my growth in the spirit. One could put Bible verses that speak to them or anything that is on their hearts. I wanted to share this with you in case any of you might find value in it as well.

I Should Share My Testimony

I would like to share a little about my background. Where it is I have come from spiritually, and how it is I have come to where I am now.

I was saved when I was twelve years old. For a good while, throughout most of my teenage years actually, I was really on fire for God. I would seek to learn more. I was always praying, reading scriptures, and seeking more of Him. I remember as a kid I would have elders from my church say, "God is going to use her". . . Then, at the age of seventeen I started to fall away.

For nearly a decade I really backslid. I guess it is like what the Bible says about pride coming before a fall. I was convinced that I would not backslide. There were times before my fall when I would pray and insist to God that I would never stray. That it just would not happen. That is one example, and for me a lesson learned. No matter where it is we may be at any given time, we cannott let our guard down. We cannot assume that we are beyond the reach of temptation, because that is not true, and if we do not think it could happen, then we will not be expecting the potential to arise. Therefore we will be weak when the test comes, when the trials arrive.

For me it started when I became heavily involved with a so-called 'Christian' group. Though as I got to know them better, I began to realise they really had more of a cult-like mentality and a grip on the people involved. As I noticed this I began to rebel against the group. Though I began to experience a blurring between the lines of truth and deception, because it had a lot of Christian teachings mixed in with the lies. What initially became my rebellion against that group grew into a rebellion against God as well. I was trying to move further and further away from them, and then doing things that I knew would be against what they would approve of. Though in the process I found myself doing this same thing with Biblical teachings as well, and only moved further away from my Lord.

You may have noticed that when someone who is a Christian strays from their faith in any manner, there seems to be almost an anger that comes with it. I have noticed this with my own experience, and I have seen this again and again in others. So many times you see someone who first professes their faith and then fall from it. . . there is an anger that replaces it. An anger against the Church, and an anger against God. I know I definitely felt that. Though at the same time I also felt a strong sense and hunger in my spirit, So I would seek out a means of filling that desire. I have always been one to do a lot of research, a lot of studying on anything that happened to catch my attention, and so I ended up doing a lot of study on various other religions and spiritualities.

Along the way, I began to adopt a different world-view. It started with my doing a lot of research into Wicca. There was about a year or two that I considered myself to be a wiccan. I would do a lot of research into it, read a lot of books, I had note journals, and supplies. Even though it was still around the beginning of my moving away from God, away from Jesus, He would still try to reach out and get my attention to let me know He was still there, waiting for me to notice.   

On one occasion when He was reaching out I had gone to the store, and I was getting some different items and candles that went along with the new path I was following. As I was looking at my stuff, all at once I heard the Lord's Prayer being recited right beside me. It was a big step for me, going in such a drastic direction away from Christ, and right beside me was a little boy standing in the book section. He had a children's Bible that had a little voice box on it with different buttons that could be pressed. He pressed the button to the Lord's Prayer. That definitely gave me a jolt and got my attention. I thought about it for a little while, but it was one of those things I just kind of brushed off as coincidence.

As I continued to move forward down this particular path, I found myself to be more of a pagan, as I decided my ideas at the time branched out further than what wicca taught. I would come up with my own ideas, and decided that pagan would be a more appropriate label. My mind frame and view point was just so different from what it had been when I was younger and in Christ. It was so radically different. When remembering how the Church elders from my past would talk about how they believed God was going to use me, I would find it humorous and sad at the same time. Humorous because I thought if only they knew how wrong they were, and sad because there was a part of me that would think back on where I was and had come from. I just did not see it being possible for me to ever be there again. Too much had changed, and too much had happened. I just did not see it being possible in any form, because of the way I viewed the world . . . everything was just too different. I could not comprehend the idea of coming back to Christ as I once had been.

The path that I had been on for about a decade kept progressing and transitioning along the way. After wicca had turned into more of paganism, it then became a mixture of paganism and new age beliefs. I really got into crystals, channeling, astrology, and other things that went along with it. I was just a whole other person. I saw it as my spiritual evolution from point A to Z. Even throughout all of this transition, there were still times here and there that God was trying to pull me back in. For a while different things were brought to my attention, things that I would dream about, and so much here and there that I would bury, not wanting to think about it.

I began to notice within the new age teachings I had gotten into was the notion that we are our own gods. I recognised this was the same thought that caused Lucifer himself to fall, wanting to become like God. It was also the same lie he used against Eve in the garden, which led to the fall of mankind into sin. Then with the channelings I began to notice it sounded more like what I would read about while I was in Christ. I began to wonder if these "ascended beings" were really demons whispering lies.

Not long after I began to notice these things I came across a link to a Christian on Youtube. This was back when they first started talking about the swine flue on the news. I went to her channel because she was a soldier who was talking about the swine flu. So I was curious about what she had to say. It was through her that I discovered Millie's channel. There was something about the things she said, though at the time I didn't realise why they were creating such an affect on me. I realise now it is because God anointed her. She was very strong in the Spirit and spoke in the Spirit. Despite feeling a resistance to what she was saying I was drawn to watch her videos. To pay attention to what she was saying. The fact that I was watching them was amazing because I still had that anger within me that was directed towards anything dealing with God. I would watch those videos, and as I watched I would still argue in my mind with what she was saying. Though again I kept finding myself drawn back to listen to more. This went on for a period of months. It was no longer just the videos. There were other things going on. More things being brought to my attention.  There was a battle raging in my mind. Though little by little I began opening up to these pullings of the Spirit. Until quite surprisingly and unexpectedly a full transition occurred.

One night after having gone through some Christian materials about prayer, I could feel the Spirit had lifted things back up within me that I had not felt in years. It was so familiar, and never ever had I thought I would feel this again. Still skeptical in the back of my mind I thought it might just be an emotional response. I wondered how I would feel in the following morning. Though I felt such a spiritual high from it. The next day I was talking with my mom about this, and she said that she had goosebumps, and that, "You're Brandy again! I haven't heard you talk this way in ages!"

What I felt that night did not fizzle out the next day, but only continued. I am not saying it has been an easy journey. There has definitely been spiritual struggle along the way. The difference is this time, even with all the struggle, I still have the Spirit moving within me. I can feel the Spirit within me. I am in Christ. I know where I stand and I know Who I belong to. I can feel the Spirit leading me and guiding me as I go. The things that are put on my mind even, I know it is not me, not my thoughts. Things are just so different. So real and alive! Since then there has been so much progress and growth. Like I mentioned earlier, I did not imagined I could be that way again. However now God has taken me even further than where I was before. I know that it is Him, because in all of my searching, never did anything else ever feel like this.

There was one occasion I wondered if I had really come back to God. I came across a teaching saying that if you were ever in Christ and fell away, there was no coming back. So I began to worry and wonder. I finally I began praying about my concern. Immediately, I felt the Spirit rise up in me. I felt that I was being told I knew better, that I knew God was with me. Then those doubts were pushed out of me and God gave me a peace.

I've discovered it is almost like you can have a two way conversation with God when praying and in the Spirit. A lot of people think it is only a one way thing, but really it is not. When you are in Christ, when you truly are Spirit filled; when you pray and you have learned how to just stop and pay attention, you actually do get feedback. It is not in the way that people might think of it though. You will not just be sitting there and hear this great voice booming down at you, giving you an answer. You can feel His response though. It comes into your mind. I wish I could explain it in such a way that would make it clear to those who have not experienced it. But it truly is amazing.

If you have not come to Christ yet, or if you once did but you fell away, I want to encourage you to just talk to God. Pray to Him. If you are not at the point where you feel you can give yourself over to Him, still, just talk to Him. You would be amazed at how much can happen, how much can change just by talking to Him. You would be amazed at the answers you can get when you pray. Even if you feel like you are not getting answers right away, do not give up. It can happen during an instance where you come across a quote, or video. Or you might be talking to someone and you will notice something that is said is exactly what you were praying about. God answers in so many ways, so pray and pay attention. There is nothing like Christ.
You may be asking, "What does it take to be saved?" Repentance is the key issue. Sincerely repenting. Not just saying something in your mind with no real thought or emotion, but feeling what you are saying to God and truly meaning what you say. Repent of all of your sins, and ask Him to come into your life. When Christ actually comes into your life, this changes you. It can't NOT change you. It is not that you will not ever struggle, but you will have it in your heart to become obedient.

If you truly have the Holy Spirit in you, and if you have truly come to Christ, you WILL be changed. I cannot encourage you enough, I really can't. Even if you do not think you are ready yet, search out an answer, search God out and see. Do not just look at Christians you know or the church that you know. Christians are supposed to be His representatives in the world but unfortunately many are not representing Him very well. There are a lot of people out there who have decided against God, against Jesus, based on what they are seeing within the church. Do not assume that what you see in the Church represents who He is. I made that mistake, even though back then before I backslid, I preached against it. I said we should not judge Him by the people who serve Him, but I forgot that lesson myself. Just search Jesus out. Go to Him in prayer and in His word. Search Him out for yourself.

How Do I Know When God is Directing Me?

Different people have asked me the question, "How can we know when we're hearing from God?" Well first I want to stress that this is something I am still learning about as well, but I thought that I would share with you some of what I have learned so far.

I associate a sensation in my chest with a stirring of the Holy Spirit. And for anyone who has felt this for themselves, you know what I mean. For anyone who has not experienced this, it is a little difficult to describe it except it is a light, peaceful sensation. I have noticed that I feel the Spirit most while in praise and worship, repenting, and when I am studying the Scriptures and come across something that has really grabbed my focus and attention. I can feel it when I have messed up and let in some form of sin. When you do sin, the Spirit will let you know. Our minds can try to deny it and rationalize it, but the Spirit will keep bringing it to your attention, not letting you forget it for too long.

If you are a Christian and sin has entered your life and you are NOT feeling anything, then I recommend you stop and examine yourself. If you are a Christian and you are not feeling the grievance of the Holy Spirit, then that means you have been ignoring Him for some time. You are going to have a difficult time hearing Him at all until you repent and get back on track.

I will also feel the Holy Spirit when I am praying over something or receiving guidance from Him in some manner. For example, a few months back I came across a passage in Scripture talking about how once you have been saved and forgiven and then turn away from that, then there is no further sacrifice. That actually had me concerned for a little bit because I had backslidden for a good while in the past. When I read this I began to wonder if I was really back on track like I thought that I was, or was it possible that I had just been going through the motions of it only thinking I was okay, when in reality there was no way for me to get back on track? This had troubled me for a few hours actually, and I finally brought it to God in prayer. When I did that almost immediately I could feel the Holy Spirit rising up in me as if to say, "Why are you so concerned? You know this already. You see I'm with you." Needless to say, receiving this kind of a response quieted that concern entirely.

I have noticed the same type of response with other things as well. The Bible refers to the Holy Spirit as a Teacher, Comforter, and Counselor. I believe that it is through being able to understand when you are receiving this guidance from the Holy Spirit that we can understand what it is that God is trying to get across to us. So what I have been doing to grow in this area, in understanding and learning how to listen, is simply to ask God questions while I am praying about things that have been troubling me. Like I will ask what He is wanting me to do, or something along those lines. You will not always be able to feel this kind of leading. Sometimes this guidance will occur at a different timing than you expect it to. Or maybe He will choose another manner to answer you. Maybe it will be through circumstances in your life. Maybe you will find that one door closes to you and another one will be opening up.

So let's say you are having trouble feeling this guidance at all. Say you have been trying, praying, and paying attention, but still struggling to understand what it is that God is trying to get across to you. Maybe you have a question about something and you wonder what is the right answer. What is it He wants you to do about a particular situation? My suggestion is look and see what it is you have going on in your life. Sin will be something that makes it hard to hear Him. Though it can be other things too, such as distractions. Look and see if you have anything placed between you and God. It might be something that you do not even realize is there. Something that is causing this muffling effect. It could even be something simple as regular daily life that can cause these distractions. Just look at what has your focus. What has your attention? How does this compare with the focus and attention that you give to God?

There is one illustration I came across recently I thought really made a lot of sense...

Imagine yourself in a big spacey room. You are on one end of it and God is on the other end. The more stuff you have placed between the two of you, the more cluttered and distracting it becomes. Then you find it isharder to hear this gentle voice that is calling to you. When God is directing you it is a gentle pull. If you have something on your mind that feels intrusive. It is dragging you to a certain point or conclusion, then I would be questioning whether that is the voice of God at all. When you have God's guidance, it is gentle. So when you have clutter and distractions between you and Him, you are going to have a hard time understanding Him. Though when all of it is cleared out, suddenly you find it much easier to hear and to understand what it is that He has to share.

You only have this type of guidance though, if you have the Holy Spirit. If you have not been saved, you will not experience guidance in this manner. You are only saved if you have confessed your sins and received Jesus Christ as your Savior. If you have not done this, I urge you - do not wait! Do not put it off. I know it sounds cliche to say that you do not know how long it is you have, but it is true. If you are not saved, and you figure you will wait until later, sometime down the road . . . can you say with absolute certainty that you will have that chance later? If not, why wait?


²⁵These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.

²⁶But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

~ John 14:25-26 (KJV)