Who am I IN CHRIST? [Verses to pray in trying & other times)

Highlights from the Tommy Hicks end-times vision:

Liquid drops of light began to flood the very earth itself and as I watched this giant that seemed to melt, suddenly it became millions of people over the face of the earth.

As I beheld the sight before me, people stood up all over the world! They were lifting their hands and they were praising the Lord. At that very moment there came a great thunder that seemed to roar from the heavens. I turned my eyes toward the heavens and suddenly I saw a figure in white, in glistening white - the most glorious thing that I have ever seen in my entire life. I did not see the face, but somehow I knew it was the Lord Jesus Christ, and he stretched forth his hand, and as he did, he would stretch it forth to one, and to another, and to another. And as He stretched forth His hand upon the nations and the people of the world - men and women - as He pointed toward them, this liquid light seemed to flow from His hands into them, and a mighty anointing of God came upon them, and those people began to go forth in the name of the Lord.

I do not know how long I watched it. It seemed it went into days and weeks and months. And I beheld this Christ as He continued to stretch forth His hand; but there was a tragedy.

There were many people as He stretched forth His hand that refused the anointing of God and the call of God.

I saw men and women that I knew. People that I felt would certainly receive the call of God. But as He stretched forth His hand toward this one and toward that one, they simply bowed their head and began to back away. And each of those that seemed to bow down and back away, seemed to go into darkness.

Blackness seemed to swallow them everywhere. I was bewildered as I watched it, but these people that He had anointed, hundreds of thousands of people all over the world, in Africa, England, Russia, China, America, all over the world, the anointing of God was upon these people as they went forward in the name of the Lord.

I saw these men and women as they went forth. They were ditch diggers, they were washerwomen, they were rich men, they were poor men. I saw people who were bound with paralysis and sickness and blindness and deafness. As the Lord stretched forth to give them this anointing, they became well, they became healed, and they went forth!

And this is the miracle of it - this is the glorious miracle of it - those people would stretch forth their hands exactly as the Lord did, and it seemed as if there was this same liquid fire in their hands. As they stretched forth their hands they said, “According to my word, be thou made whole.” As these people continued in this mighty end-time ministry, I did not fully realize what it was, and I looked to the Lord and said, “What is the meaning of this?”

And He said, “This is that which I will do in the last days. I will restore all that the cankerworm, the palmerworm, the caterpiller - I will restore all that they have destroyed. This, My people, in the end times will go forth. As a mighty army shall they sweep over the face of the earth.”

Thanks.

Have felt that was true—about The Lord restoring even more spiritual clout and miracles than ever before—in the end times—have felt that was coming for 3-4 decades.

DEVOURED STRENGTH

Boldea’s latest; worthwhile read, very inspiring. Will use one of Quix’s threads on which to post it. It’s from this site

http://www.mikeboldea.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Devoured Strength

Hosea 7:8-9, “Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake unturned. Aliens have devoured his strength, but he does not know it; Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him, yet he does not know it.”

The history of Ephraim is a tragic thing to behold. The religious experience and the repentance that Ephraim underwent were temporary and fleeting, like a morning mist that dissipates with the advent of the sun. With each act of disobedience, with each willful rebellion, with each refusal to repent, Ephraim’s strength was being devoured while he remained ignorant of it.

For Ephraim the aliens that devoured his strength were, departing from the Lord, burning incense to Baal, committing adultery, cursing, lying, stealing, murder, mixing with the nations, and stubbornness. This is by no means a detailed list, and as hard as it might be to believe, the sins of Ephraim extended beyond those just mentioned.

With every act of rebellion, with every sin committed, the spiritual strength of Ephraim was devoured, and he became weaker, thereby becoming more susceptible to the attacks of the enemy. The growing weakness of Ephraim was evident to all, in the graying hairs, except to Ephraim himself who considered himself unaffected.

To this day there are things that devour our spiritual strength, that sap us of our energies and cause us to become visibly weaker with the passage of time. I want to discuss, if only briefly some of the things that devour our spiritual strength, because if we know the causes, we can guard our hearts against them.

There is nothing more pitiable than a man who was once spiritually strong, become spiritually impotent and not even know that his strength has been devoured by certain things he allowed in his life.

The first sin that devours strength faster than we would like to acknowledge, is pride. Pride is a sin! It is a sin that God abhors, and is disgusted by. There are a multitude of examples, both in our present day, and in the Word that opens our eyes to the destructive power that is pride. One of the most vivid examples of the destructive power of pride is the first King to ever rule over Israel, namely Saul. The reason I mention Saul, is because the aftereffects of his pride reverberated in the lives of the entire nation, and they felt the weight of his sin for generations after his passing.

Looking back at the history of Saul, it is easy to conclude that pride was what devoured his strength, and left him a shell of his former self. As a young man, Saul had a spirit of humility and simplicity.

During their first encounter, when Saul was out looking for his donkeys, and sought the aid of Samuel to show him which way he should go, Samuel speaks some glowing words concerning Saul for God had shown him that Saul would be king. Saul’s answer to Samuel’s praise was one of utter humility, as he said, ‘Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families in the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak like this to me?’

So basically Saul said, I know who I am, I know the family I come from and the tribe from which my family comes from, and I don’t deserve this praise. From this position of utter humility, Saul allowed pride to leech its way into his heart, and his end was less than glorious or pleasing to God. In the end, because of his pride Saul was rejected by God.

1 Samuel 15:23, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”

Pride is the mother of both rebellion and stubbornness, because pride keeps an individual from submitting to the authority of God, and deceives them into believing that they know best. Pride devours the spiritual strength of men, depleting their level of obedience and submission to the point that they become nonexistent.

Saul had everything; he was king over Israel, the power of God resided in him, yet due to pride he forfeited all that God had granted him becoming pitiable among men.

The second sin that can readily devour one’s strength is disobedience. It is undeniable that Jonah was tasked with a difficult mission. Jonah was told to go to Nineveh, a solitary messenger, with no preparation in advance of his arrival, with no one renting a hall, or putting up fliers, and no one heralding his arrival. Add to all of this the fact that the message he was commanded to proclaim was not one of cotton candy and candied apples, but rather of destruction within forty days, and one could understand how this could overwhelm a man and cause him to flee from before the face of God.

Often when we look at someone like Jonah, we have a tendency to view the largess of his disobedience, and take comfort in the idea that our disobedience is small compared to his.

‘Sure I’m disobedient in some areas, but it’s not like Jonah’s disobedience. I mean, compared to Jonah’s disobedience my own is infinitesimal.’

What we fail to understand is that small disobediences ruin the soul just as thoroughly as large ones. Disobedience is disobedience, it is not quantified by how big or little, it must be repented of. In His goodness, God will forgive, but we must repent. We cannot bypass repentance just because we think our disobedience was miniscule to someone else’s. God doesn’t grade on a curve. His standard is fixed, and remains the same for all of mankind. Whether one disobeys of five billion, God is not trying to fill heaven and so in a pinch will decide to lower His standard of obedience. He is the same yesterday, today and forevermore.

Another thing that can devour our strength is neglecting our own spiritual walk. Even the most humble and obedient servants can sometimes fall into this snare, of getting so caught up in ministry, getting so caught up in reaching the lost, getting so caught up in preaching, or helping the poor that they grown neglectful and become indifferent toward their own spiritual wellbeing.

During the time of the judges in ancient Israel, there was a man by the name of Samson. We all know the sad story of Samson, and witnessing his dramatic downfall should be as a warning sign to all who aspire to serve God.
Samson was a judge of the people, a man upon whom the Spirit of the Lord moved, a man who not only killed a lion but tore him apart with his bare hands, the selfsame man who killed a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey he found on the ground.

This was the man who no bonds could hold, and who armies feared, yet because he neglected his spiritual walk, because he did not watch over his relationship with God, he became a grinder in a prison, being bound in bronze fetters, with his eyes plucked out.

As tragic as this might seem, to me the most tragic thing of all takes place before the Philistines captured him, when he woke from his sleep and purposed to himself to shake himself free of the Philistines that were attempting to overtake him, not knowing that the Lord had departed from him.

Here he was thinking he had the strength he’d always had, here he was thinking he had the might he’d always possessed, yet the Lord had departed from him, and Samson found himself powerless and impotent.

Men cool in their relationship with God over time if they do not fan the flames of their love for Him. Samson did not fall suddenly, but he did fall. He neglected his spiritual walk and paid the ultimate price for the neglect.

Negligence leads, and inevitably so, to choosing the wrong path, and making fatal decisions. God had bestowed an awesome power upon Samson, but due to his carelessness, and the fact that Samson did not cherish the gift he had been given, God simply removed His power from Samson. Now some might say that God is not an “Indian giver”, and I agree, He is not, but we can forfeit His gifts, we can force God to depart form us by neglecting or otherwise abusing them. God will not reside in a dirty vessel, and an impure heart. Yes, God departed from Samson! I know this might not sit well with some, but the Word is the Word.

Judges 16:20, “And she said, ‘the Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ So he awoke from his sleep and said, ‘I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!’ But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.”

Living on the bottom of the ocean, where the light does not penetrate, deep water fish actually lose their sense of sight. Because they were away from the light for so long, these fish lose their ability to see. When a man is apart from God, when he willfully turns his back and walks in the opposite direction from where God is standing with open arms, they lose their spiritual senses, and their spiritual strength is devoured.

Another example that we can use is that of a perfectly healthy man immobilizing his arm for twelve years. If somehow he managed to keep the arm unmoved for twelve years, that arm becomes atrophied, even though it is perfectly healthy. Blood is still pumping through the appendage, but because the man has not flexed his muscles in such a long time it becomes useless.

If we have light, then we must walk in the light. If we have convictions then we must live our convictions, and do our utmost to follow the will of God.

Having seen the means by which our strength can be devoured, what are the signs that we can look for in ourselves as warnings that this is taking place in us?

For Ephraim the sign that his strength was being devoured was gray hair. This, thankfully since my hair is graying at a disturbing rate, is not one of the signs we need to look for in our own lives.

One of the most common signs that something is devouring our spiritual strength is a continued and pronounced neglect of studying God’s Word. It is imperative to study the Word of God, to nourish ourselves with His Book, and no matter how long we’ve been in the faith, no matter how many years we’ve been in ministry, we never outgrow the need for being in the Word regularly.

How can I do the will of God if I do not know it? How can I know the will of God if I do not read the Book in which His will is revealed? Can we honestly say that we can receive the Holy Spirit’s daily nourishing and encouraging absent the Word? It is the Word that lights our path, it is the Word that illuminates our understanding, and it is the Word that reveals God’s will to us and for us.

Another sign that something just isn’t right is neglecting personal prayer time. Prayer is our means of communicating with God; it is the avenue by which we share our burdens, our joys, our sorrows, and the means by which we thank Him for His daily blessing. Prayer is fellowship with God! It is beautiful and fulfilling and necessary on a daily basis so that we grow from strength to strength, rather than have our strength devoured by those things which so readily threaten to ensnare us.

The last thing to look out for is neglecting service, neglecting to do good, and neglecting the opportunities we have to share Jesus. When we come to Christ we are transformed, and His nature becomes our nature. We can’t help but call people to repentance, we can’t help but reach out to the lost, nor can we help but be there for the poor, the widow and the orphan. When we cease doing these things, when we stop being the hands, the feet, and the heart of Christ, then we must search our hearts, and look into the mirror of the Word that we might discover if something is devouring our strength.

Our Christian walk is constant and perpetual. It is not reserved for one day per week, it is not reserved for when we have nothing else to do, but we must daily walk with God, daily seek His face, and daily read His Word.

As a famous musician was discussing the daily practice of his chosen instrument he said, ‘if I don’t practice one day I feel it; if I don’t’ practice for two days, my friends feel it; if I don’t practice for three days, the whole world knows it.’

This should be our mindset as we daily go about bringing glory to God, that if we miss one day of fellowship with Him, we will feel it, if we miss two, those around us will know it, and if we miss three, the world will see we are no longer in communion with Him.

With so many means by which the enemy attacks, with so many ways in which our strength can be devoured, we must be diligent in walking with God daily, for He is able to deflect the fiery arrows of the enemy and keep us safe in His embrace.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.
Posted by Michael Boldea Jr. at 8:38 AM 0 comments Links to this post

EXCELLENT.
THX.

BTW, FOLKS,

C2C tonight is excellent re Revelation etc.

Amen! May the LORD's presence continually increase in us for His glory.

Thanks for the ping. - Shalom

The Scriptures are clear that the LORD looks beyond the flesh and into the heart of His people. It is the motive in the heart of the person that cries ABBA, Daddy, LORD, Father, YHWH, El Shaddai, etc. that is seen by the LORD Most High.

Only the LORD can look beyond a word and see the truth. When I cry out to my Daddy (Abba) in Heaven, I am at a place of ultimate humbleness before His throne...recognizing His power and might, and His help in my time of need. Other times when I cry out to my Daddy, it is with great joy for who He is...the fullness of His character.

It is the intimacy of the relationship that is expressed as we call on the names of the LORD. When Moses asked what was His name, He answered I AM. He IS everything...

Excellent post. I have experienced His tenderness and there is nothing that compares. - this needs repeating -

YET, THERE ARE FAR MORE SCRIPTURES DOCUMENTING ALMIGHTY GOD’S/ DADDY’S/ PAPA’S/ FATHER’S TENDER HEARTED COMPASSIONS, TENDER HEARTED LOVE; TENDER HEARTED HOLDING US IN THE PALM OF HIS HAND; WRITING US ON HIS HAND; BEING THE APPLE OF HIS EYE ETC. ETC. ETC.

THE LOVE OF GOD in the whole of Scripture is THE MOST PROFOUND aspect of ALMIGHTY GOD’S CHARACTER and the most important aspect HE HAS TAKEN THE MOST PAINS TO DEMONSTRATE.

AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!

Thanks for your kind reply

BLESSED BE THE NAME AND WORD OF THE LORD.

DEVOURED STRENGTH
Boldea’s latest; worthwhile read, very inspiring. Will use one of Quix’s threads on which to post it. It’s from this site

http://www.mikeboldea.blogspot.com/

Very anointed and timely !
Blessings on you and yours.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach

AND TO YOU.

BRO, WHAT IS YOUR SENSING ABOUT THE NEXT 30, 60 AND 90 DAYS?

VIS A VIS ISRAEL

THE USA

OTHUGA & CO.

ETC?

WHAT IS YOUR SENSING ABOUT THE NEXT 30, 60 AND 90 DAYS?
VIS A VIS ISRAEL
THE USA
OTHUGA & CO.

ETC?

Shavuot is coming next weekend.
Look up ! Yah'shua is coming soon !
If the prince of Persia does something stupid and PRIDEful
the world will be plunged into all out nuclear war.
Review Charles Krauthammer's review of 0bama's speech.
The utter PRIDE of what would happen to the USA
if 0bama's father were not permitted to come here.
He would not be here to lead America at this time.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach

Interesting.

Would you please elaborate on your last paragraph?

The utter PRIDE of what would happen to the USA
if 0bama’s father were not permitted to come here.
He would not be here to lead America at this time.

I don’t think I get your full meaning.

Would you please elaborate on your last paragraph?

Sorry
The utter PRIDE of 0bama to say or suggest:
What would happen to the USA
if 0bama’s father were not permitted to come here.
He would not be here to lead America at this time.
I view it in light of the Word.
Isn't it ironic that 0bama would lead America
into these End Times.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach

Ahhhh . . . I didn’t understand the context . . .

Didn’t really know that OThuga had said such an arrogant thing.

Amen.

Thank you. God be with you.

Hmmm???

The history of Ephraim is a tragic thing to behold. The religious experience and the repentance that Ephraim underwent were temporary and fleeting, like a morning mist that dissipates with the advent of the sun. With each act of disobedience, with each willful rebellion, with each refusal to repent, Ephraim’s strength was being devoured while he remained ignorant of it.

Let me adjust this just a bit!

The history of Christianity is a tragic thing to behold. The religious experience and the repentance that Christianity (has yet to) undergo were temporary and fleeting, like a morning mist that dissipates with the advent of the sun. With each act of disobedience, with each willful rebellion, with each refusal to repent, Christianity’s strength was being devoured while he (they) remained ignorant of it.

I’m not kidding, just read Luke 15, the Prodigal Son, the older brother is Judaism and the younger Christianity. The Older Brother never left the Father, while the younger ran off with Jezebel. And the younger brother in it’s current state is dead.

Until he returns!

Thanks for the feedback.