top of page

Search Results

312 results found with an empty search

Blog Posts (166)

  • Fracturing...Pt 1 of 2

    Fracturing I ask that we inhale as we allow the words to breathe as the Spirit speaks to us through them in this writing. In the closing drama of earth’s history, the greatest danger that threatens the people of God is not merely the power of their enemies, nor the oppressive systems of the world, but the subtle and destructive spirit of division within the spiritual family. The adversary has long understood that no external force can overthrow a people bound together in divine unity; therefore, his most insidious weapon is to sow distrust, rivalry, suspicion, and self-centeredness among those called to be one body in Christ. Division is not simply disagreement, for differences of perspective are natural; rather, it is the rupture of covenantal love, the refusal to yield to one another in humility, the laying aside the counsel of God to reason, and the collapse of shared trust in the God who has knit His people together. This fracture, when allowed to mature, becomes more devastating than persecution, for the wound is inflicted not by strangers, but by those who should be keepers of one another’s souls. The history of God’s people is filled with lessons that reveal how division opened the door to defeat. Israel in the wilderness fell into murmuring and rebellion, not because their enemies were too strong, but because their unity was broken by complaints and fear. The kingdoms of Judah and Israel alike collapsed, not merely under the weight of foreign invaders, but under the crushing effect of inner strife and betrayal. Even in the early church, Paul’s letters are filled with earnest pleas to “be of the same mind,” to “bear one another’s burdens,” and to “endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”. The enemy has no new strategy; his oldest tactic remains his most effective. He knows that if he can fracture the spiritual family, he can silence their witness, empty their courage, lessen their faith, and disarm their authority. The mystery of spiritual relations often lies in the way God chooses to dispense His wisdom. While His Spirit is available to all who seek in humility, He bestows greater measures of understanding and discernment upon certain individuals according to His divine purpose. This unequal distribution of wisdom is not evidence of favoritism but of calling. God places within His chosen vessels insights that prepare them for service, endurance, or testimony at a particular time. Yet, this very bestowal of higher wisdom becomes a dividing line within spiritual relations, for not all hearts are ready to receive the depth of light revealed to some. Division arises when those who have not been entrusted with such wisdom respond with resistance, skepticism, or even envy toward those who have. This pattern is visible throughout Scripture. Joseph’s brothers despised him not simply because he was loved by their father but because he bore dreams from God that revealed a higher destiny. Similarly, Moses, though called to lead, faced constant opposition from those who could not perceive the wisdom God had given him. Spiritual relations fracture when the gift of divine insight becomes a stumbling block to others who prefer the comfort of familiarity over the challenge of revelation. Another cause of division is the weight that higher wisdom places upon relationships. Those who walk in deeper spiritual insight are compelled to live with greater accountability, and their words and actions often expose hidden complacency or unbelief in others. This exposure unsettles relationships, for truth confronts the heart. When one speaks from the wellspring of wisdom granted by God, it carries authority that unsettles the status quo. The hearer must either embrace the light or recoil from it, and in that moment, relational unity either deepens in shared faith or fractures under the weight of spiritual disparity. Yet, the root of division is not the wisdom itself but the human response to it. God does not intend for wisdom to breed pride or separation but to cultivate obedience, humility, and service. However, when wisdom is received, it alters the balance of fellowship. Some will see fracture the one gifted with higher insight as arrogant or presumptuous, even when that person walks in meekness. Others will silently withdraw, feeling unworthy to walk alongside one whose vision seems clearer. Still others may attack outright, mistaking divine wisdom for human ambition. Thus, relationships once close become strained, not because love has disappeared, but because the light has revealed a hidden disparity in faith. This dynamic carries prophetic significance for the final generation. As God seals His remnant with the mysteries of His covenant, division will intensify. The greater the light, the sharper the separation from those who resist it. Families, churches, and friendships may divide because of the measure of truth entrusted to a few. It is not that God desires separation, but that the presence of higher wisdom inevitably sifts the hearts of those around it. Some will be drawn upward into deeper faith, while others will recoil, fulfilling Christ’s own words: “I came not to send peace, but a sword.” Ultimately, spiritual relations are divided not because God is unjust, but because His wisdom is both a gift and a test. It tests the humility of those who receive it and the receptivity of those who witness it. Those who accept the light grow closer to the one who bears it, finding in them a brother, sister, or guide for the journey. Those who resist, however, create distance, for the wisdom of God cannot be contained within human expectations. Thus, division becomes the inevitable consequence of God’s sovereign choice to bestow higher wisdom upon some, revealing the true nature of every heart and proving that fellowship rests not in blood or friendship alone, but in shared submission to divine truth. The repercussions are far reaching leading to a collapse of trusting one with the truth. And the aftermath of events are spiritually significant. When a spiritual fracture opens because people stop reasoning, the break is hardly ever about doctrine alone — it is about the collapse of a shared way of approaching truth: careful listening, testing, humble questioning, and mutual accountability. Failure to reason turns revealed truths into catchphrases rather than living guides, so when someone interprets scripture impulsively, dogmatically, or to protect an ego, the stewardship of truth is suspected; trust erodes because truth is no longer being handled responsibly. Scriptural revelations that were sought in unity ceases and thought begins to read one another’s motives instead of Scripture, substituting apprehension for charitable inquiry. Over time this produces parallel gatherings of conviction — each convinced of its own transparency — and the work of reconciliation becomes harder because claims are defended emotionally, not tested by reasoned exegesis, prayer, and communal wisdom. Repair begins where reason and humility return together: transparent explanation, patient dialogue that prizes both truth and the person who bears it, consistent practices for testing teaching, and leaders who model intellectual honesty and moral vulnerability; only when people see truth handled with integrity will trust be rebuilt and the spiritual fracture begin to close. The principle of division caused by unequal measures of wisdom is seen clearly in the relationship between Samuel and Eli. Eli was the established priest, experienced in the rituals of Israel, yet the voice of God came to Samuel while he was still a child. This reversal of expectation produced tension. Though Eli eventually acknowledged the authenticity of the boy’s calling, it exposed the fading of his own spiritual vision. Samuel’s rise as a prophet illuminated Eli’s failure, and thus their spiritual relation was marked by a transition that carried quiet strain. In this, we see that God’s choice to impart wisdom to the humble over the established can unsettle bonds and draw hidden lines of separation. Daniel’s life offers another profound witness. When Babylon took him and his companions captive, they were set among many others from Israel, all of whom shared the same heritage and upbringing. Yet God gave Daniel and the three Hebrews “knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom,” and to Daniel specifically, “understanding in all visions and dreams”. That unequal bestowal created both elevation and division. Among the wise men of Babylon, jealousy brewed; among his fellow captives, Daniel’s unique insight set him apart. His wisdom preserved the lives of others, yet it also created an invisible chasm, for few could comprehend the depth of what God entrusted to him. Wisdom both unites through service and divides through its rarity. fracture The New Testament continues this pattern in the life of Paul. Once an opponent of Christ, Paul was granted revelations surpassing those of many apostles who had walked physically with Jesus. His letters reveal the extraordinary depth of understanding given to him, yet that very gift strained his relationships. Some questioned his authority, others accused him of boasting, and still others distanced themselves because his vision seemed to outpace theirs. Even among the apostles, Paul’s calling to the Gentiles was not fully embraced at first, and his confrontation with Peter over hypocrisy displays how higher wisdom disrupts unity when truth pierces comfort. The division was not born of hostility alone but of God’s deliberate choice to elevate one voice with a sharper measure of revelation. Even within Christ’s own disciples, unequal measures of understanding produced both intimacy and fracture. Peter, James, and John were repeatedly drawn aside to witness deeper mysteries, such as the transfiguration and Gethsemane’s agony. Their proximity to Christ’s inner revelation distinguished them from the others, and this distinction fostered questions, rivalry, and even resentment. John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” bore a unique closeness that culminated in the Revelation of heavenly mysteries at Patmos. That special entrustment, while glorious, set him apart from others, revealing again how spiritual relations shift when God’s wisdom flows in unequal measure. These examples reveal that division is not accidental but divinely permitted. God uses it to sift motives, to humble pride, and to refine both those who carry wisdom and those who must respond to it. Eli was humbled by Samuel’s calling; Daniel’s peers were tested by his revelations; Paul’s apostleship forced the early church to wrestle with God’s surprising choices; and the disciples had to learn that proximity to Christ’s wisdom was not about competition but about surrender. Division, therefore, is not merely a breakdown of relations but a stage upon which the hearts of men are proven. In the last days, this same pattern will climax. God’s sealed remnant will be entrusted with mysteries that the wider body of believers may resist. Families will divide, congregations will fracture, and friendships will strain, not because love has failed, but because unequal measures of wisdom create a separation between those who yield and those who recoil. Just as Daniel was lifted before Babylon, and Paul before the nations, so too will God’s chosen be lifted to carry a wisdom that will both save and divide. In this, the wisdom given is not only a light to the faithful but also a fire that tests the hidden allegiances of every heart. In the final generation, the division caused by God’s imparted wisdom will reach its climactic expression. Those who are sealed by the Spirit will carry a depth of revelation that is both illuminating and separating. Just as Samuel’s voice distinguished him from Eli, and Daniel’s insight set him apart from Babylon, the faithful remnant will bear knowledge of divine mysteries that the world, and even the broader church, cannot fully receive. This wisdom will not only expose hidden unbelief but will awaken hearts prepared to respond, sifting the faithful from the lukewarm. Families will experience strain, churches will wrestle with dissent, and friendships will be tested, for the presence of God’s higher insight cannot be ignored or contained. Yet this division serves a holy purpose. God does not grant wisdom to isolate; He grants it to purify, to align, and to prepare His people for the weight of their calling. Those who embrace the light will find intimacy, unity, and strength among others who walk in the same revelation. Those who resist will reveal their hearts, and their separation, though painful, will preserve the integrity of the mission entrusted to the remnant. The sifting is fracture both protective and preparatory: God uses division to guard the vessel from compromise, and to ensure that His truth is carried without distortion into the final hour. Prophetically, the wisdom bestowed upon the remnant will not merely distinguish them in perception but will empower them to act decisively in the outpouring of God’s plan. They will discern deception where others are blind, they will speak courageously where others remain silent, and they will live in obedience where others compromise. Just as the apostles, Daniel, and the disciples bore gifts that altered relationships, the final generation will carry a revelation that transforms their communities and draws others into alignment with God’s purposes. Division, in this sense, becomes the mechanism by which God separates the vessel from the world’s entanglements, preparing a people who are holy, faithful, and wholly dependent upon Him. Ultimately, the division wrought by higher wisdom reveals the true nature of every heart. In the last generation, as in Scripture, God’s choice to bestow insight will illuminate the faithful and expose the unfaithful. The separation will be painful, yet necessary, for it will protect the integrity of the remnant and fulfill the divine promise that a purified people will stand in readiness to complete God’s redemptive plan. In this context, division is not evidence of abandonment but of preparation; it is a holy refining, a crucible in which the faithful are made ready to walk in the fullness of God’s light. The wisdom entrusted to some, thus becomes both a sword and a shield—dividing hearts where compromise remains, and guarding those who are called to carry the fire of truth into the final hour. As the last days approach, the division caused by God’s imparted wisdom will manifest with unprecedented intensity. Families, churches, and spiritual communities will face testing unlike any in history. Those who receive deeper revelation—those who walk in the mysteries of God’s final counsel—will be increasingly distinguished from those who cling to comfort, tradition, or halftruth. The final generation will experience relational strain because the light they bear will expose hidden compromise, unfaithfulness, and spiritual blindness in those around them. This division, though deeply painful, is part of God’s sovereign plan to sift hearts and prepare vessels for His ultimate purpose. In families, the strain will be intimate and unavoidable...particularly spiritual families. Parents who have long guided their children may find themselves challenged by the younger generation’s deeper spiritual understanding. Children in the remnant may perceive truths their parents cannot yet see, or parents may walk in revelation that distances them from children unready to embrace God’s higher wisdom. These tensions are not a sign of divine rejection but of necessary purification. God allows relational separation to protect the integrity of the remnant, ensuring that His truth is neither compromised nor diluted in critical moments before the coming of Christ. Division will be both doctrinal and spiritual. Leaders who have walked in revelation will be tested by congregations unwilling to follow beyond familiar boundaries. Just as the apostles faced skepticism, resistance, and even hostility from both believers and unbelievers alike, the final generation will confront similar challenges. Misunderstanding, envy, and subtle opposition will arise because higher wisdom often threatens human pride. Those who remain in the light, however, will find spiritual alignment with one another, forming a holy nucleus capable of bearing God’s end-time messages with authority and love. In this crucible, relational division functions as a means of divine separation—ensuring that the faithful are insulated from compromise and positioned to fulfill God’s ultimate plan. Spiritually, the end-time sifting will extend beyond the visible church into the broader societal realm. The remnant, sealed with divine understanding, will be called to discern deception in governance, culture, and media, revealing spiritual realities that the majority cannot yet perceive. The higher wisdom imparted to them will act as both illumination and separation: illumination for those ready to embrace it, separation from those who resist it. Just as the seven thunders and the sealed scroll in Revelation are reserved for the elect, so too will certain divine mysteries remain inaccessible to the world until God’s purposes are fulfilled. The very insight that enables the remnant to stand firm in truth will simultaneously produce friction, misunderstanding, and isolation from a society enslaved to its own error. fracture Yet this division is always purposeful. God’s wisdom is never given for pride or alienation; it is given to prepare, protect, and empower. The trials of relational separation cultivate humility, dependence upon the Spirit, and a refined character in those entrusted with higher knowledge. Those who yield to the light, despite the strain it brings, will emerge as the vessels capable of proclaiming the three angels’ messages with clarity and authority. Division, therefore, is a crucible—a spiritual mechanism by which God separates the faithful from compromise and purifies the remnant for the final proclamation of His truth. Ultimately, the prophetic significance of this division is redemptive. It will reveal the true nature of hearts in every sphere: family, church, and society. The sealed remnant will stand distinct, not out of human ambition, but because they have received God’s wisdom and responded with obedience. Those who reject the light will be sifted away, while those who receive it will find deep unity, intimacy, and power among one another. In this final separation, God’s purpose is revealed: a purified, wise, and faithful people, prepared to endure the time of trouble and complete the mission entrusted to them. Division, though painful, becomes the instrument through which God preserves His truth, safeguards His people, and ensures that His wisdom is carried forward without compromise, illuminating the final generation for His glory. This danger is magnified in the last days, for God has declared that He will gather a people from all nations, tribes, and tongues who bear His seal and carry the everlasting gospel. These are not a people bound together by geography or culture alone, but by covenant identity in Christ. Yet within this chosen remnant lies the temptation of mistrust, especially as the scattered descendants of the ancient Hebrews awaken to their true identity. The reality of centuries of exploitation, slavery, and oppression cannot be ignored, and with that awakening comes the unshakable conviction that never again will Black people, as heirs of this sacred lineage, submit to enslavement or exploitation. This is not a matter of mere pride or self-assertion, but of prophetic destiny. The yoke of oppression has been broken, and a divine boundary has been set: the scattered people shall rise, and they shall not be bent again under the weight of another man’s chains. Yet herein lies the place for sober reflection, for the refusal to be enslaved outwardly must also be matched with a refusal to be enslaved inwardly. Division in the spiritual family becomes a hidden chain as heavy as any iron yoke. While no empire will again bind God’s scattered people in physical slavery, there remains the peril of emotional, doctrinal, and spiritual bondage through suspicion, bitterness, and rivalry within the household of faith. The adversary would gladly exploit wounds of the past to sow seeds of present discord. He would take the memory of injustice and twist it into resentment. He would tempt the rising generation to mistrust their brothers and sisters in Christ, and to fracture the very unity that gives the remnant its power. In this way, division becomes a subtle form of enslavement — not by whip and shackle, but by distrust and alienation. The final generation must, therefore, walk with profound vigilance. They must recognize that unity is not uniformity, but a holy weaving together of differences into one fabric of purpose. They must learn that love does not erase scars, but it does heal them into testimonies of strength rather than festering wounds of bitterness. The greatness of the remnant is not that it will avoid conflict altogether, but that it will transcend it through forgiveness, patience, and covenant loyalty. To refuse exploitation outwardly but to embrace envy or rivalry inwardly is to accept bondage in another form. Only by refusing both can God’s last-day people stand free indeed. fracture

  • He is All the Difference...

    Faith Faith involves reliance and trust and it will endure in the very face of doubt or inquiry, whereas belief is simply something most take to be true. Belief may be sounded by information. Faith is known by application. Faith in its truest form is when we have confidence in God to the point that it causes us to undertake His will, which reinforces our assurance in all He does and performs our certainty in all He says. Belief in its most elementary form is about what we accept to be true, not what we do with it. Beliefs are things we take to be true based on our logic and experiences. If we learn new information, our beliefs can change. When someone’s beliefs are challenged and changed it sometimes deepens and solidifies their faith — which is what our Heavenly Father wants to happen. Faith is similar to belief in that it is a specific kind and deeper intensity of belief. A person can believe in something and not have faith. Faith requires a personal inspection. Many have believed in God, but their faith in His ability to come through was lacking. Even though we know God’s promises and can sing about His faithfulness, we often struggle to act in faith because we were unsure. This does not deny our belief, it simply reveals our humanity. In reality our faith remains unchanged even as it grows because the word does not change. However, it is not that our faith must grow. It is in whom do we have faith. And with that faith in Christ, it will grow. Faith grows with every new revelation of truth. So, does faith and truth faith grows change our lives…we answer in the affirmative. God wants to move us from belief to faith and He wants our faith to grow. He desires this so that as our faith grow we will trust Him to control every purpose of, and for our lives. But this is a process, and it does not happen all at once. The beautiful part is God is gracious and will give us opportunities to demonstrate our faith. In God’s plan for our life, there are more things He has for us to do, but to get there we are going to require more faith. For this reason, He will graciously help us turn our belief into faith and all we have to do is ask for His help.   Faith is layered with so much reason that even with the most familiar of thoughts and purposes we strive to grow deeper to discover a much richer meaning or treasure contained. The stronger our faith is; the more extraordinary things will occur as His spirit leads us. If we believe only, we do not plunge beneath its surface to ask, “is that all there is?” Faith is fidelity to the Word even when we don’t see the object of our belief. Faith does not come from humans but only from God. Faith is God’s energy, a gift not one of us deserves, a gift given to us by Christ to wash away our iniquities, one that makes Heaven our inheritance. Faith enables us to search our minds and our hearts for God and to come to God to reason in humility and obedience to His will, not our own. Understand how love is the only aspect of holiness that covenants us by faith with God. Remember hearing that God so loved and that He gave? Most of us believe that. But to really know that requires faith in the One whom God gave and it requires that love for the One who gave. If you love Me…keep My commandments and live by the   faith of the Son of God. We love with   faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.    Faith is more than just intellectual knowledge. It is more than just a mental assent. Faith is not halting between two opinions.  It is to accept God’s word on all matters. Accepting God’s choice, His purpose. Faith is the principle of separation. The concept of being set apart as sacred. Meaning belonging to God. This is a recurring theme throughout the bible. Holding to that understanding is how our faith will cease to wax and wane. Faith must be grounded in the always faithful God and His will being done and not upon some specific outcome that may or may not serve God’s purpose. It is trust without reservation.  T rusting is what brings the promises of God into our lives. Faith is our choice as to whom we will serve in sincerity and truth. And truth is found in the word of God. And so, faith is that light in God’s promises. It is God behind us and God before us. Our faith has a way of revealing our worst days, or weeks, or months, or years. Faith has a way of uncovering the purposes and the mercies of God in our past, and giving light to the promises of God for our tomorrow. The past becomes a list of hopes deferred, relationships lost, opportunities squandered, all telling the story of how we were elected. God has so sanctified every sorrow we’ve experienced that it has become, in His hands, an upward step in His purpose. Our past is but our wilderness experience. Christ himself has walked there. If the children of Israel had learned from that experience they would have been as the peculiar people spoken of. No matter how much guilt and grief is buried in the years gone by, the ground bears the footprints of the God footprints of God who works wonders. When we rehearse the bitterness behind us, then, we need to tell ourselves about this day that we were awakened. But that is not yet the full story. True faith has a different interpretation than what our worst moments would suggest.    True faith is knowing of God’s wondrous deeds and thoughts toward us. No matter how many sorrows await us, faith tells us that God knows the thoughts that He Himself thinks toward us to give us an expected end. And the sum of them is great!    Our mourning these days is great. It will increase. But so will our faith in God. What will come from our mourning, our suffering is a deeper understanding of the character of God and His thoughts toward us. This provision is purposed by God. Consider Jeremiah…lamenting actually deepens our gratitude, building our capacity for belief in the promise of His presence and blessing in the midst of it. We have greater faith. It is this greater faith by which we are secure in God’s love for us, when we know how He really feels about us, we are free to come to reason with Him and to ask and tell Him anything. Faith will keep us from faking fine in life. True faith strengthens us to approach God with what is really going on with us. God thinks of us as His. He tells us of His experiences of anger, of joy, of compassion, and even of jealousy. Why would we not choose to be wholly honest with Him…He already knows. It just so amazes Him when He sees our faith becoming so full that He wants desperately to make us whole. He wants us to know that this wholeness is the only way to have the fullness of faith and that is to have the fullness of the Holy Spirit, the fullness of the life of Christ, and the fullness of love from and for the Father. Our belief is that He’s got us! We cannot limit what God can do, but we can limit what we accept. When we truly believe, the equation of our faith will fill us up. God tells us how evil the days are and how so much worse they will be. So, He admonishes us to redeem the time, understanding what His will is for us. That we be filled with the Spirit. In our reasoning we understand that means we must be empty of all things of this world. And because God’s thoughts are toward us, He tells us of this greater faith we come to. Faith to know the love of Christ that we may be filled with all the fulness of God. Glory!!!    The fullness of our faith is not determined by our ability to reach it but to receive it. We cannot add to our faith, Christ asks that we yield to faith that it can be added onto us. If we want to believe for more, we must trust for more. Trusting is not done out of strength but out of surrender.   There is nothing that God can’t do if only we would let Him. Every circumstance we go through is an opportunity to hear Him, to seek His face in everything that happens. Do not do anything to play down faith. Faith is our constant connection to Godthinking. This is the mind of Christ. God’s way is the grace way. We give Him glory and He gives us grace. We give Him praise and He gives us peace. We give Him worship and He gives us confidence. This is the way of God. Our faith is to move us beyond the temporal world unto eternal thinking. We cannot teach God anything, but we can understand the things of God. We are but a faith-step away from being made perfect in Christ Jesus. Faith gives us an advantage. Ignorance is torn down while passionate truth builds up. Faith says test what you believe and see if it withstands the scrutiny of critical thinking, that is, critical thinking based on the Word of God. Faith is not established on what we think however, faith is built of what God knows of us. He knows when we make His ways our ways. As our faith is, so will God continually unfold new dimensions of His grace, His love, and His kindness, and His wisdom.    By faith we are to expect days of troubled serenity ahead. If there be any lingering wreckage of our sin, God will clean it up. There will be days that will reveal more constellations of constellations God’s goodness and glory to us, even as we must walk through deep darkness to see them. By faith whatever else we see when we look ahead, then, see the grace and the mercies God has multiplied for us. See also the God who will never fail to preserve us with His steadfast love and faithfulness. If only we had a believing faith to see. We are hemmed in by the things behind us and the hopes before. We know of God’s wondrous deeds of the past. And our faith tells us of the merciful wonders to be. Both of these are marvelous and more than can be told. With such a God behind us and before us, we need not allow the past to swallow us, nor tomorow to worry us. The past and the morrow belong to Him…and most importantly, so do we.   It is believed that faith by both biblical and spiritual definitions needs no evidence. Faith is something that is certain but not yet fully realized in our present experience. It is the conviction of the reality of what we do not yet see. It is the characteristic of those who live “as seeing him who is invisible. We might even suggest that faith is ventured trust that is in no way contrary to reason. If faith bypasses reason  w hy would God give us a written document. It is not just believing in God, it is believing God. It is belief that may not necessarily rely on empirical evidence.   Can  f aith provide a connective understanding as to why our own belief must be based upon historical reality? Therein is the highest mystery that spans the truth of faith…faith always has an object. That is, one cannot have faith in some unclear way. There must be some thing or person, one has faith in. Most people do not understand how to place faith in its characteristic order. Faith cannot be “belief without evidence” since it is not a belief to begin with. It is a condition that may involve beliefs or may be caused by beliefs, although it is not itself a belief. Rather, it is a state of trust. And so , faith embraces testimony.  M easure our faith by the Word of God and make sure we are assenting to the reasonable, historical testimony of the prophets.   Faith is not something of a distance. Wow! What? Some have faith of being in the kingdom. Millennium has past and we’re not there yet. Do we believe these words: thy faith hath made thee whole, the kingdom of God cometh not with observation, the kingdom of God is within you. Is that faith? And how near is the kingdom?   Faith requires not trust from a distance but an entrusting ourselves where we risk ourselves and our wellbeing to some thing or some person. Trust is exemplified in a deep and mutual relationship.   God becoming man might qualify for such a demonstration. Everyone has faith, in this sense, insofar as they entrust themselves. So, what is the very distinctiveness of our faith? Its object is Jesus Christ, God Himself. And we venture on the reason, the truth, the revelation of every word of God. We place our faith in Christ as Savior and Lord. It is not merely the truth of the gospel, and it is not merely the evidence and reasons constitutive of the knowledge of the gospel, but we are literally entrusting ourselves to Christ. And here is the essence of the mystery: we might know some truths of the Creator’s determinative purpose by reason and evidence but, at a certain point, reason and evidence run out and faith takes over and the Spirit of God gives us what the mouth of God has spoken in secret. This moves us beyond the measure of faith. Beyond becoming convinced by the preaching of the gospel, the testimony of the Spirit, the richness of scripture, a work the Lord has done in our own lives, answers to prayer, a world that appears designed and finely tuned, needing an explanation for purpose and hope.   We engage the life of the mind of Christ and being careful for nothing, considering and weighing out our reasons as we grow in faith and prayer letting our requests be made known unto God. Many that hear do not believe, yet those that believe have first heard. Faith cometh by hearing. The beginning, progress, and strength of faith are by hearing. The word of God is therefore called the word of faith: it causes and nourishes faith. God gives faith, but it is by the word as the instrument. Hearing is by the word of God. It is not hearing the enticing words of man's wisdom, but hearing the word of God, that will befriend faith, and hearing it as the word of God. Think about how hearing the word of God reflects in the meaning of our lives for God. Others are made to witness faith in the relationship we have with God through Jesus Christ. We become a model of how a person of faith should live their faith out loud.   People need to be encouraged and know others are praying for them, that they are loved and not forgotten, that they are loved by God and that He desires them to experience the grace, love, and peace of God.   There is a purpose behind God’s calling us to come to Him. We see the necessity of reason in bringing us to the threshold of faith. It is this vital collaboration whereby we believe that God will reveal to us the truth in the words of Jesus and his divine works as recorded in the bible bible. As such we become eyewitnesses of truth. We were not there, yet our reliance, our trust is in the One who makes known the strength of the evidence…it is faith in God. None of this violates our free will , for our faith in God depends on our personal “commitment” to Christ. For those of us who allow ourselves to be touched by God’s grace, for faith is nothing short of a gift, then we can make an act of faith that God does indeed exist and that He reveals Himself through His Son to bring us into the fullness of life. When we come to God to reason, we do not come to be rational, we come to be transrational, we go beyond the realm of reason. We trust God and that is faith! Faith and reason become like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of divine truth to believe all that is God. God wants us to know what we believe and why we believe it. We are to have a well reasoned, evidential faith that we can articulate to those who may have doubt. We do not share opinions. God either is, or He is not. Jesus is that God, or He is not. Salvation comes through Christ alone, or it does not. This is not a personal preference. Historical reality points to determined providential purpose. Ensamples, patterns, admonitions are for our benefit. Yesterday is a collection of ideas, choices and possibilities. Faith is that event that creates a wise narrative weaving our experience to hope and having that confidence that the work God began, He will perform. This is the how and the why we can know why we are the called. We are dramatic proof of the accuracy of the Old Testament. How did Mary know what she heard was truth? It was written. How did Jesus know he was the Son of Man? It was written. Has your life been transformed? You know your experience to be true because you understand, on separate evidence, that the one in whom you trust is Himself trustworthy. And because God is God, His every utterance about the future is to be utterly trustworthy. Believing faith is discernible. It emits a spiritual light. Jesus perceived the strength or weakness in the faith of those around Him. We hear him say, “thy faith hath made thee whole.” “Great is thy faith.” He lamented to another, “O ye of little faith.” He questioned others, “where is your faith?” And Jesus distinguished yet another with, “I have not found so great faith.” The measure of faith is given by God, but faith in Jesus Christ is a gift from heaven that comes as we choose to believe and as we seek it and hold on to it. Faith is a principle of power, important not only in this life but also in our progression beyond the veil into the most holy. By the grace of Christ, we will one day be saved through faith on His name. The forthcoming of our faith is not by chance, but by choice. We must realize that if we fail to reason with every word, with any of God’s word, it is a sign that the adversary is destroying our faith. Remember the words of Jesus, “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not”.   We view life’s events through the divine prescription that enables us to have spiritual vision in this world because we view it from the perspective of another world.  W hen we reach perfection we realize that faith has been leading all along to the person of our Lord Jesus, the author and finisher. With believing faith we defy the wisdom of the world that tells us to live for today. Instead we live in the present in the light of the future, and handle everything that is visible in the light of the invisible.  T o live by faith is not to live by what we can see and feel and touch on the basis of our sense experience, but to live on the basis of what God has said and promised. That is believing faith. It has its epicenter in our Lord Jesus Christ. It takes its practical shape from what God has said and promised in His Word. Learning, understanding, embracing, digesting, and applying every last word of scripture. Everything about us will be assessed by our faith. The basis of our expectation, the proof of what God has prepared. The word is written…we know there is an election…we know the wise will understand…we know the sealing is certain…we know of the time of trouble…we know there will be great plagues, the coming of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords…we know of the thousand years…the lake of fire, the new heaven, the new earth…and by faith we know it is done.    by faith we know that it is done

  • For One Another...

    for one another God has our best interest at heart. So, He commands us to pray for ourselves and for others. In our prayers we find confession as a source of healing. And when we pray in the name of Jesus, we do it according to his will. And his will is that we come to know and to understand God. Now we begin to see why praying for others is important. Prayer is not about getting everything we ask or keeping others safe, healthy, and problem-free. Prayer is a powerful way in which we get to know our Savior, and it also brings us together with other believers. Effective prayer for others will bring us closer to God because effective prayer is based on a knowledge of His will. We pray for their faith, we pray against temptation in their lives, we pray for their unity, and we pray for their sanctification. We pray for the salvation of the lost; we pray that the brothers and sisters would stay on the right path; we pray that believers would be strengthened by the Spirit, rooted and grounded in love, able to comprehend God’s love, and filled with the fullness of God. These are our prayers for spiritual blessings; they are all “in Jesus’ name” and according to the Father’s will. We pray that these prayers warrant finding a “yes” in Jesus Christ. Praying for others gets our focus off of ourselves. Strengthens us to “carry each other’s burdens,” as we “fulfill the law of Christ”. Praying is supposed to be like breathing, easier to do than to not do. Our praying is a form breathing of serving God. God knows when the intent of prayer is to be the means of obtaining His solutions to the many situations we encounter. It may be that we not receive what we ask for, but because of God’s wisdom our prayers are never in vain for He has promised that when we ask for things that are in accordance with His will, He will give us what we ask for. We are to be diligent and persistent in prayer. For prayer should not be seen as our means of getting God to do our will on earth, but rather as a means of getting God’s will done on earth. God’s wisdom far exceeds our own. Often it is prayer that will position us to discern God’s will. Our connection is to be of such a consciousness of God’s presence in our lives that even thoughts unprayed will be prayers calling out to Christ. Prayer demonstrates our faith in God, that He will do as He has promised in His Word and bless our lives abundantly more than we could ask or hope for. You want to see God work in others lives…pray for them. Oh, what can fervent prayer accomplish. Try not to pray in anxiousness nor with eloquence. Present your prayer from the content of your heart as an expression of your love, your gratitude, and your worship to God. Memorization and recitation avoid. Prayer is to be real and personal. Pray for the things that God’s word talks about, using our own words and ordering them to our own journey with God.  power of praying Have you ever felt the power of praying, not prayer, but praying as you take someone’s hand or sitting facing one another with knees touching while holding hands or walking in nature and peering upward or cycling through the many people God has brought to you. Have you ever just let your thoughts flood your praying, adding to the heaviness of spirit for the souls you love. Have you ever felt God relieve the heartache. Do you often find that sacred space where you can pray in isolation. And do you sometimes long to share that space that another might join you in taking the hearts to God in silence or out loud.   What a powerful gesture it is to seize the moment and pray with a friend. We might ought to pray soberly, watchfully, knowing the end is at hand. We might want to check some of our desires knowing this. We are at the time where every incident in life should suggest a prayer. We might see the end of things at any moment. God's dealings with mankind will not see another consideration for salvation. Our present state is itself even now the end. We ought to pray for endurance to stand under every hardship, while maintaining an attitude of patience as we stand. It is to be an attitude of humility and magnanimity and gentle forbearance. It is enduring without finding fault. We have a common duty to pray for one another. We should be aroused from the indifference shown toward the truths of God and have a view to perseverance in prayer for the coming of our Lord. Praying that God will work in the life of every person, of His people in a way that will bring them to the end of themselves, to recognize their lostness. This is endurance in faith. Prayer has this great reason…it establishes a right relationship with God. Never neglect how much of Himself God puts in our prayers. Prayer is a result of the reality of God’s omnipresence. There is only one thing that can keep you from coming before God in prayer…your choice…Jonah prayed from the ocean depths. The seriousness of prayer enhances our hearing God. Let nothing distract us during prayer. Our circumstances are brought to God, but they are not the focus. God is. We must focus on God else our prayer is idolatrous. Prayer is our access to a resource beyond human limits or even human understanding. God’s power and resources are offered to us to do His service. This is how the truth and the soundness of every word of God transform our prayer spiritually to bring our hearts into intimate harmony with the person of the Holy Spirit and enhances our surrender to His control, wisdom, and power for our prayers. The Spirit’s groanings then enables us to worship more fully as we are assured that intercession with God is made for us. Intercession is the continuing enfolding into Christ’s ministry. Christ’s ministry did not close with his death. His atoning work was finished then, but when he rose and ascended to the right hand of the Father, he entered upon other work for us just as important in its place as His atoning work. It cannot be divorced from His atoning work; it rests upon that as its basis, but it is necessary to our complete salvation. What that great present work is, by which Jesus carries our salvation on to completeness…wherefore Jesus is able also to save us to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for us. Unto entire completeness, absolute perfection, because he not merely died but because he also “ever liveth.” For what purpose he now lives…“to make intercession” for us, to pray. Praying is the principal thing he is doing in these days. It is by his prayers that he is saving us. Prayer through Christ takes us before God. It is this whereby we come to understand prayer as did Jesus. If we then are to have fellowship with Jesus Christ in his present work, we must spend much time in prayer; we must give ourselves to Prayer through Christ earnest, constant, persistent, sleepless, overcoming prayer. I know of nothing that has so impressed me with a sense of the importance of praying at all seasons, being much and constantly in prayer, as the thought that that is the principal occupation at present of our Jesus. We can have part in this. We can intercede for our brothers and sisters. We can come boldly, confidently, outspokenly approaching the throne of grace, the most holy place of God’s presence, where our sympathizing High Priest, Jesus Christ, has entered in our behalf. It is a transforming experience in the Holy of Holies. Infinite grace is at our disposal, and we make it ours experimentally by prayer. If we only realized the fullness of God’s grace that is ours for the asking, its height and depth and length and breadth, I am sure that we would spend more time in prayer. The measure of our appropriation of grace is determined by the measure of our prayers. In His presence is the fullness of joy. It is the bowing of the innermost spirit in deep humility and reverence before Him. Often in prayer it is prudent to let God begin the conversation rather than discharging our own thoughts. After all He abides with us more than we do with Him. Hearing Him ignites our heart with truth, wisdom, direction, focus, and passion in our prayer experiences. Worship-based prayer seeks the face of God before the hand of God. God’s face is the essence of who He is. God’s hand is the blessing of what He does. God’s face represents His person and presence. God’s hand expresses His provision for needs in our lives. If all we do is seek God’s hand, we may miss His face; but when we seek His face, He will be glad to open His hand and satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts according to His will. Let us not be content to simply pray from our own intellectual framework of understanding.   O ne that delights in biblical truth about God’s character, seeks the empowerment of the Spirit for application and articulation being surrendered to God’s word in intimate pursuit of His will. Prayer is not just about making requests of God. But what do we in our deep heart conceive God to be like. What comes to the mind as we think about God. We leave far behind our needs and wants, even our transformation. Here we give to God the various difficulties and trials that we face, asking Him to use them redemptively. We also voluntarily take into ourselves the griefs and sorrows of others. In this last day we are to pray in suffering and be changed. The language of ​“they” and ​“them” is converted into ​“we” and ​“us.” Together we stand at the cross. stand at the cross Faith tells us that we are about to be baptized into the sacrament of suffering. And as did Jesus in entreaty offer up prayers and supplication, with loud cries and tears, so will we. Our triumph in Christ goes through suffering, not around it. We pray for holy obedience. In the reality of prayer is God giving us both the grace to repent and to forgive. Earnest prayer proves our faith. Prayer isn't a place for us to be good or right, and it isn't a place for us to perform or prove our worth. It's a place for us to be honest, to be present, and to be known. We need not posture before God. God does not partially love us, He fully loves us. God made us to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this life, and to spend all eternity with Him in heaven. Is this the purpose and the substance of our life? And so, prayer is a time and a place for us to offer ourselves to God and to receive of God in turn. Communion with each of the divine persons is the entry of God’s creatures into the perfect unity of the eternally existing Triune. The ultimate end of the whole divine economy. This truth is infinite in scope and the human mind can only process that which is finite and limited in scope, and even then it often struggles. We don’t pray to three Gods. We pray to One God in whom there are three persons. That’s a faith relationship. According to God’s divine self-revelation, according to scripture, God is one in essence, and three in person. Prayer is that breath that sustains our spiritual life. Prayer fills the mind with truth and gives hope to the heart. Prayer deepens our moral life by taking it from the shallowness of the sensate, to an increasing experience of the divine life. Through prayer our mind is renewed, our soul is purified, our heart is converted, and we radiate the perfect unity of the family of heaven. In short, God informs us in prayer, the Spirit reforms us in prayer, Jesus transforms us as we become conformed to the image and likeness of the Us in God. This is the attractiveness of the light of truth. A light that leads us into the Divine Mystery. Prayer helps our minds to understand what our spirit knows. Prayer is a dialogue like no other. It heals and soothes, convicts and forgives, unbinds and sets free. It brings light to our understanding and illumination to our soul. It can do all this and more because this dialogue is conversation with God.  O utside of time and space Jesus is waiting for us to converse with him. He so wants to attract us to the truth of who his Father is and to reveal to us the truth of who we are in Him. He desires to engage us, to captivate us, and gently to unfold the petals of our heart with tenderness and unfold the petals of our heart care. He wants to pierce our darkness with the light of his love. He desires to transform us.   This is what true prayer is all about. Imbuing all that we do, indeed all that we are, with the life of God Himself.  Prayer takes the traumatic — such as seeing the reality of our condition — and makes it life changing. It takes our pain and our sorrow — such as broken relationships and unhappy decisions — and gives them eternal value. It takes our suffering — such as rejection, betrayal, and misunderstanding — and fills it with joy. In the end, prayer takes us — weak as we are — and makes us instruments of light and truth by transforming us into the object of our desire — Christ Himself. And we are sent forth to share the way, the truth, and life with others. we are instruments of light Mysteries remain, but in spite of them, let us persist in prayer and then rest in the sovereignty of God as we ask how came we to be so like our Jesus…our prayer life explains the mystery.

View All

Other Pages (146)

  • onlinebiblecourse | bible study online

    OnlineBibleCourse: Deepen your search for truth in the bible and learn about Christ. Sounds of Manna -Hymn 10 - Jesus Paid It All Play Video Free books! Play Video The Seed Play Video The Truth Play Video The Truth Watch Now Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Copy Link Link Copied Close DISCLAIMER: PLEASE NOTE ALL INFORMATION PROVIDED ARE EXTRACTS, EXCERPTS, OR COMPILATIONS AND ARE NOT COPYEDITED. MANY WORKS OF VARIOUS AUTHORS ARE USED. THERE IS NO AUTHOR HERE…IT IS A COMPILATION FOR YOUR LEARNING Schedule Learn at your own pace. Grade your own quizzes. No schedule. No deadline. Contact He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone , and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. Revelation 2:17 KJV Online Bible Courses No Cost *New Blog Entries Added Weekly* Bible Prophecy Charts & Maps Learn where we are in the stream of time Bible Helpful Links From reputable sources About About White Stone Bible Study Online/OnlineBibleCourse Have you had questions about the Bible? Perhaps you just want to know more about the life of Jesus or how to become a better person. Or, rather, you have come here to learn more about prophecy and the events that are coming upon this earth. Well, put on your seatbelt, because you are about to have a bumpy ride; these studies may cause you to question long-held church traditions that might make you ponder and wonder...

  • Helpful Links | onlinebiblecourse

    Prayer Requests, King James Bible, Strong's Concordance, Spirit of Prophecy Scripture Index, Spirit of Prophecy Topic Index Helpful Links For Bible Study Online T o assist you on your way to enlightenment in spiritual things. Psalms 77 [13] Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? King James Bible The KJV is the only bible that aligns and agrees with Strong's Concordance... Strong's Concordance It takes every single word of the KJV and lists where each word can be found in the scriptures. Spirit of Prophecy Scripture Index Starting in the 1840's, William Foy (a free Black man) and then Ellen White, received visions from God. Ellen White wrote extensively and her writings agree with that of the Biblical prophets. Spirit of Prophecy Topic Index Ellen White's writings are not an addition to Scripture, nor do they replace or contradict it; instead they elevate the Bible as the true source of inspiration and light. Adobe Acrobat Installer Adobe Acrobat Reader installer download. Please verify that your computer or phone has the data capacity to download successfully. Mark 11 [24] Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. [25] And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. [26] But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. Prayer Requests If you are in need of prayer, we will add your name to our Prayer List, which will be prayed upon every morning. As a prerequisite, we ask that you read the above verse in Mark 11 first. First Name Last Name Email Send ....neverless not my will, but thine, be done. (Luke 22:42 excerpt)

  • A Word for His Servants Only, Parallel Darkness- Part 5 | onlinebiblecourse

    A Word for His Servants Only, Parallel Darkness- Part 5 Price $0 Duration 7 Minutes < Back About the Course A Word for His Servants Only, Parallel Darkness - Part 5 Revelation 17 [ 15 ] And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. A Word for His Servants Only, Parallel Darkness - Part 5 .pdf Download PDF • 91KB Your Instructor White Stone Learn more and more about Jesus

View All

Contact Information
1-832-986-7086
contact@whitestonemountain.com

Subscribe to our Blog

Thanks for subscribing!

Have any questions?

Thanks for submitting!

bottom of page