Author: cardscoffeeandgod

What are you thirsty for?

Have you ever driven through the desert? Many years ago when my oldest was just a baby, we drove from San Diego, California to Yuma, Arizona. That road takes you through some incredible wilderness. I saw enormous vultures, the like I have not seen since. But what really stuck in my mind from that road trip so many years ago, was the dry heat. It was so powerful that it felt like it sucked the moisture right out of your body. We could not drink enough throughout those hours of driving, and at that time, there were almost no places to stop and get water. The thirst that I felt was unquenchable. 

As I look back on that time, I am reminded that there is also another kind of thirst, a thirst that few talk about, but most if not all of us struggle with. It is the spiritual thirst that God put in us, that causes us to never feel satisfied. God created within us a vacuum, an inner void or empty place that only He Himself could fill. Even though this thirst, or void, is spiritual, it manifests itself in physical ways. And just like the dry California desert heat, this thirst cannot be quenched by physical or emotional things. It often expresses itself through addictions, but the fix is always temporary. 

What are you thirsty for? What do you crave above all else on earth? Is it love, acceptance, food, sex or perhaps something else that is so deep and so hidden inside of your soul, that you can hardly find the words to express it? You just know that you have a deep longing for something, and nothing will satisfy that craving, no matter how hard you try. The Bible calls that intense desire, thirst.  The gospel of John tells us in John 7:37 that Jesus literally addressed this issue: “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.“ What is it that Jesus offered them to drink? He tells us in the next sentence. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38

We are told a story in John 4 about Jesus coming across a woman who was getting water from the town well at noon. He had an interesting conversation with her. Clearly, she was thirsty, which is why she was getting water. But He started the conversation with an odd request. Jesus asked the woman for a drink! This startled her and here’s what happened next: “Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” (John 4:9) He then tells her that if she knew who she was talking to, she would have asked Him for a drink and He would have given her living water. Not fully understanding what living water was, she thought it meant she would never have to walk back to the well and get water again. Jesus cut to the chase and addressed her thirst. He told her to go get her husband. If you know the story, she responds by telling him she has no husband. And that is when it gets interesting because Jesus tells her that she’s actually had 5 husbands and the one she has now is not her husband. This woman was indeed thirsty and it appears from her life that no man had ever been able to quench that thirst. 

But why would Jesus ask her to get her husband? Because it is not until we identify the cause of our thirst, that we can begin to recognize that no one, not any man or woman, not money or power, nor food or sex, or anything else on this earth can ever quench our thirst for the living God. It is not until we admit this to ourselves that we can come to Him and ask for this living water, the water that only Jesus the Rock can give us.

We are given a foreshadow of this living water in the book of Exodus when we are told about the children of Israel who had been wandering about in the wilderness with Moses. The thrill of leaving Egypt was gone and now they were left wandering around in a dry and barren land for many days. How often do our lives feel like this? We feel like we have been wandering around in a wilderness, alone, hot and without any satisfaction, looking for a promised land that never seems to get any closer than our distant horizon or dreams. They were thirsty! They were literally dying of thirst and they blamed Moses. In Exodus 17:1-6 we are told their story. They believed it was his fault that they were in this situation and he was responsible for why they didn’t have anything to drink. So Moses went to the Lord and told Him the situation. (As if He didn’t know) The Lord told Moses to go to the rock in Horeb, and the Lord Himself would stand before Moses, and Moses should strike the rock and water would come out. Moses did exactly what he was told, and miraculously, water came gushing out of the rock.

How does this relate to being spiritually thirsty? The prophet Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 53:4.

In this chapter Isaiah describes the crucifixion, and says that God would “reckon Him stricken, struck down by God and afflicted”. The Father struck Jesus, the Rock, so that living waters would come out of Him. Paul confirms this in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 when he tells us that the children of Israel “all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of the Spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ”.

So I ask again, what are you really thirsty for? Identify your craving, not the physical symptom that you use to momentarily satisfy it, but the deeper one, the one that you can’t face because it is too painful. When you have found it, come to the One who has the living water and ask Him for a drink. He has promised that He will grant your request. His love for you is so great, that He laid down His life for you, so you could spend eternity with Him. He died on that cross, so you could live. And He is calling you, yes you, and telling you that He desires to give you living water. His name is Jesus. In Isaiah 55:1, Isaiah, like Jesus in the temple, cries out: “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters!” Cry out to Him and He will answer you. 

Are you sick of scandal in the church?

I find myself very discouraged these days. The church seems to be full of scandal. It doesn’t matter what denomination you belong to, Protestant or Catholic, the scandals are all around. Unfortunately, just as in the time of Jesus on earth, the religious leaders of today are full of hypocrisy. Both Jesus and John the Baptist called them out for their hypocrisy back then, (“Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'”) Matthew 15:7-9. It seems that not much has changed. 

It is hard to watch these kinds of things happen, especially, when they are from people we have listened to, learned from and trusted. Sometimes I find it hard to wrap my brain around how these men or women can do the things they do.  They live one life on stage and another life in their off hours. How can we make sense of all this? We know that Jesus is not fooled by these people. In Matthew 7:22, Jesus talks about a coming day, a day when these people will stand before Him at the judgement seat and He tells us the scene from that day. They stand before Him, arrogantly proclaiming their own righteousness, proudly tell Him about their accomplishments, all done in His name. He is not fazed or swayed by their pride. “Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?” I cannot imagine standing before the Almighty, and not being afraid, no, terrified for my life, knowing that He has the power to throw me into hell. Yet these people are not afraid. They are not ashamed of their hypocrisy. But listen to what Jesus says to them in Matthew 7:23: “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” They practiced lawlessness. They said one thing and did the opposite. 

But notice something else about what Jesus says to them. He says “I never knew you”. He doesn’t say, “YOU don’t know me”, no, He says, I don’t know you and I never have. “I never knew you”! That statement is very important, because it gives us some insight into what really happened here. 

The prophet Hosea actually gives us some understanding about this situation. I know it’s not a book often read these days, but I want to show you some things that God teaches Hosea, that will help us to understand what is going on in the church today. In Hosea 2:2-5, the Lord talks about Israel not being His wife, nor Him being her husband (anymore). The Lord tells Hosea that Israel has committed harlotry or spiritual adultery because of all the idols that she worships. He goes on and tells Hosea that because of this idolatry, her children are children of harlotry. At first, this seems confusing. What is the Lord talking about here? Clearly, He is referring to spiritual things, not physical. But bear with me. 

Let me put it to you in modern terms. Any person that considers themselves a Christian, and brings forth a ministry that is born out of anything, and I mean anything, other than intimacy with our Lord, is creating a child of harlotry. This distinction is very subtle and very hard to discern, because only the Lord knows our hearts. If this upsets you, I understand. Many wonderful ministries and organizations have been born out of a heart of giving. What we would call philanthropy. But here’s the kicker. Anyone can be a philanthropist. You don’t have to even be a Christian, you can just be a kindhearted person and start a great ministry, a successful ministry that helps other people. Is there something wrong with this? Not necessarily. 

But let’s  go back to all those people who had great ministries, who healed, spoke prophecies, and cast out spirits. Listen to what Jesus says to His disciples right before He tells us about these people. He says: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. (Matthew 22:21) Jesus told His disciples on the night of His crucifixion “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” John 15:4. If we want to do the will of the Father, we have to abide in Him, spend time with Him, read His word, listen to His voice, and most importantly, obey Him! 

Ministries, for want of a better word, are spiritual children, spiritual fruit. They are born out of two places: Intimacy with the Lord, or intimacy with idols. That idol could simply be self. 

An example of this would be someone who has been wounded from past hurts. They struggle with self worth and self esteem issues. Much to their delight, they discover that when they help others, they feel better about themselves. It makes them feel like they have value and worth, which is not in and of itself a bad thing. They help more people, develop their talents or gifts, and begin to have an impact on their world, i.e. the church. The problem however is that they cannot feel good unless they are helping or doing. It is a constant struggle for them because, like an addict, the only time they are feeling “high” or good, is when they are actually doing ministry. To the people who know them, they appear to be mature leaders in the church. They are walking in their gifts, how could they not be? 

But what is really going on in their hearts? It’s not about loving Jesus. It’s about loving self.

Jesus told Peter in John 21:15-17, if you love me, you will feed and take care of my lambs (baby Christians) and my sheep.  And you see, that’s where we have to examine ourselves. Why are we starting a ministry? Is it because it makes us feel good? Does it make us look kind and caring to others? Does it give us power, authority, and perhaps a good income? Or are we doing it because we love Jesus and He is asking us to do it. And that, my friend is the difference. Are we being led by the Holy Spirit or our own spirits, or worse, an evil spirit using us to lead others astray?

When I look at these failed leaders, who upon examination, lived double lives for decades, it is quite obvious, at least to me, that their ministries were never born out of abiding with Jesus and obeying Him. These ministries were nothing but children of harlotry. 

Sadly, their hypocrisy reflects badly on the Lord and in the end, people become disillusioned with the church, and rightly so. Let me encourage you if this is you. Look to Jesus. If you belong to Him, realize that He will never lie to you or deceive you.  He is faithful. These evil leaders do not represent Him nor do they work for Him. Do not allow them to steal your faith and your walk with the Lord. 

Are we living in dangerous times?

When you read the word perilous, what immediately comes to your mind? I know I think of the word danger. If you look up the word perilous, the words that are used to describe it are hazardous and extreme risk or danger. It is a word that could easily be used on a warning sign near the edge of a cliff. And yet, Paul uses this very word in 2 Timothy 3:1. “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:” Notice that I left the colon, because Paul then goes on and uses 19 or 20 adjectives to describe what the world will look like in the end times. 

Here are the words he uses in verses 2-5: “For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”

Does this not describe our world today? Sometimes when I’m having a particularly hard day, I read this passage and for some reason, it gives me strength. Perhaps it encourages me that I’m not alone. I remember that there are others out in the world who are experiencing similar difficulties. 

What I do find interesting about this passage however, is that Paul, who no doubt was sitting in a Roman prison, dealing with an empire that was killing Christians for entertainment, certainly persecuting them, never mentions any physical dangers. He never mentions that in the last days we would be persecuted, or thrown in jail, or tortured for our faith, perhaps even killed. That was already happening in Paul’s day and has continued throughout the ages. No, what Paul mentions here when referring to the last days, is entirely about the way people would behave and treat each other. And, if you look at verse 5, he tells us that this is people in the church! (having a form of godliness but denying its power”). I could perhaps handle this passage a little easier if it was just unbelievers who behave in selfish ways. That would actually make sense to me. But Paul warns us that it will be believers who have a form of godliness, that will act this way. I would suggest, that what he is referring to is hypocrisy. 

Sadly, Paul goes on to tell us that we should turn away from such people.

I could go on to describe what this kind of person looks like in today’s world, but I’m sure, if you are still reading this, that you have encountered them yourself. It makes me sad. 

Jesus tells us in John 15:12: “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” Yet, when I read the adjectives that Paul used in the above passage, I see absolutely no love. The world tells us to love ourselves. The world suggests that you are enough. There are songs that suggest that self love is the greatest love of all. Yet, when I’ve met people who believed those things, I saw only selfish, and often narcissistic behavior. 

So why am I writing this you might ask? I’m writing this because I want to encourage you. If you read those adjectives and like looking in a mirror, you saw yourself in those words, repent. Ask the Lord to forgive you, to give you a new heart and a new Spirit. He is gracious and forgiving. 

If you read those adjectives and you see those behaviors and attitudes all around you and it grieves your heart and mind, then take heart, you are not alone. We are in the last days on this earth as we know it. 

Jesus tells us in Luke 21:28, after describing what the world will look like in these last days, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Soon, very soon, those of us who are His will see Him in the clouds as He calls us home. Paul called it the “blessed hope” in Titus 2:13. He tells us that we should be  “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ”.

So take heart, our redemption draws near. And when the darkness envelopes you, when you  feel overwhelmed by the amount of evil around you, look up and smile. Jesus told us to keep watch: “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” (Matthew 25:13) Remember, there is a day and an hour! He will not tarry.

God’s promises are yes and amen!

I will never forget the look on my teacher’s face that evening. I was taking a class at my local church on prophecy. That particular night, the teacher felt led by the Holy Spirit to prophecy over each of his students. There were not many of us, perhaps 7 or 8, so it was a small class and did not take too long. He had each one of us sit in a chair in the middle of the group, and then he would speak to them what He felt the Holy Spirit was telling him. When it was my turn, I sat in the chair and closed my eyes, waiting patiently for the teacher to speak. What I heard changed my life. I heard the following: “You have never had a safe man in your life. Not your husband, your father or your brothers. But I am safe and I am your husband, your father and your brother and I will always protect what is yours.” 

After a few moments, I opened my eyes and looked at the man standing in front of me, and I heard him apologize. His honesty was refreshing. He told me he had heard absolutely nothing for me. I told him it was all right and I repeated what I had heard the Holy Spirit say to me. The surprise on his face was priceless. I have no idea why the Lord chose to bypass him and speak to me directly, but He did. What I didn’t know that evening, was that the word I had heard would be tested over and over again in the years to come.

Only months later, the following Summer, my son was in a hospital bed several thousand miles away, so sick, that he was afraid he would die. He’d had an operation and things did not go well. He kept calling me that weekend, because he feared he would not make it. God was silent that weekend. Finally, on Sunday evening, I became angry and I said to the Lord, why are you being silent? Have you nothing to say to me? What I heard, humbled me. “I have already promised you that I would always protect what is yours! Do I need to repeat that promise?” I answered, no. My son lived.

That weekend, waiting for my son to recover, as hard as it was, taught me many things. I began to look for things “that were mine” and ask for protection over them. Obviously, the first ones that came to my mind were my other children, and my brothers. I realized that that promise had actually been activated long before it was spoken to me. I had another son who almost died in a skiing accident. He also walked out of the hospital just hours after the accident. Another skier, jumping the same hill a week later was not so fortunate. He died, breaking every bone in his body. One of my daughters became so sick with a ruptured appendix that she developed sepsis and had to spend weeks on powerful antibiotics. She too lived to tell the tale. It seemed that the enemy had it out for my children. There were other situations, other circumstances where God protected my kids from certain death. He had already kept His promise to me, long before He spoke it to me that night. 

Several years after this word came to me, my husband and I moved to an area that could potentially see hurricane activity. We were assured when we moved here that there had not been a hurricane for decades. We were told not to worry. But not too long after we moved, we had two hurricanes come extremely close to us, within one year, just 11 months apart. They came so close that we were ordered to evacuate. God’s promise came to mind during those times, and each time, He reminded me that He would always protect what is mine. This time it was about my property and my house. The first hurricane was so powerful that the neighborhood behind us suffered enough wind damage that it took months for the city to clean up all the downed trees. They were lined up on the street edge and huge trucks had to come in and remove them. Our house, even our street, suffered nothing. The next hurricane again brought terrible flooding as the tide came in. I remember standing on my front porch, we had not evacuated for this one, even though we were told to, and I saw the water come up from the canal, edging closer and closer to our driveway. I heard the Lord speak to me very clearly at that moment: “rebuke it”. I did and almost instantly it began to recede. The neighbors commented on how fast it came and how fast it left! The neighborhood behind us suffered terrible flooding in many of the homes. Why did God choose to protect us? I have no idea. But I learned that His promises are “yes and amen”. 2 Corinthians 1:20

I could go on with how God tested His word to me, but instead I will share a story from the Bible, where the Lord tested a promise He gave to a certain man. In Genesis 15 we are told the story of a man named Abram (only later was his named changed to Abraham). God told Abram that the land of Canaan would be given to his offspring, the land that is now called Israel. God told Abram the following after Abram reminded God that he had no offspring and that a servant would be his heir:

“And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Genesis 15:4

As Genesis chapter 15 unfolds, God makes a covenant with Abram, telling him that his offspring, coming from his own body, would inherit the promised land. Abram and Sarai, his wife, not fully understanding the promise, took matters into their own hands and Abram ends up with a son called Ishmael, born to his Egyptian maid. But Ishmael was not the promised son. Fourteen more years would pass before God once again speaks to Abram in chapter 17 and this time the Lord renames them Abraham and Sarah. And, He tells them that they would have a son, born the following year. Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90. That son, named Isaac was indeed born a year later. If you read the whole story however, it becomes very obvious that this “promise” of a son born to both of them, would be tested for many years. They waited 14 years for Isaac to be born!

The final test of this promised son, was still to come, however. Years later, God again speaks to Abraham and this time the test seems too hard to imagine. But Abraham knew the Lord enough by now that he trusted Him enough to obey Him. Here’s what the Lord tells him:

“Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” Genesis 22:1-2

No, God does not want us to sacrifice our children. Absolutely not. This was never about killing Isaac. This was about Abraham’s heart. At the last moment, the Lord calls to him from heaven and says stop. Don’t do it. Why did the Lord ask him to do it then? He tells us in the next verses. 

“But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” Genesis 22:11-12

This has always been a hard story for me. It seems almost cruel. We live in a society where Jesus is considered meek and mild, kind and loving and would never do such a horrible thing as to ask that we give Him our children. Or would He? 

In Luke, Jesus tells His disciples the following: “”If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14:26-27

These seem like harsh words. Obviously, He’s not asking us to hate our family. He’s asking us to choose Him over our family. We must love Him more than our own families. And that is exactly what Abraham did. He chose to obey God, rather than protect his own son.

The promise that Abraham received all those years earlier, would affect the whole world. That promised land, given to Abraham and his children, would eventually become the land of Israel. And that land would bring forth our Messiah, the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. 

But my story is not finished yet. I too had that promised word of protection tested. On January 1 of this year, I heard the Lord say to me that His promise, given to me all those years ago, did not just mean physical protection. It also meant spiritual protection. He would always protect my kids spiritually. From what you might ask? From hell. Two weeks later, to the day, perhaps even the hour, my oldest daughter died at age 35. It came very suddenly. She was in every sense of the word, a prodigal. She had repented of her sins and been born again as a teenager, but as she grew into adulthood, she ran away from the Lord. Her life was a series of bad choices. 

But the morning I received the news of her death, He spoke to me very clearly. As I sat there in shock, He told me that in her final moments of life, knowing she was going to die, she called out to Him because she remembered the God of her youth. Like the father in the story of the prodigal in Luke chapter 15, when she called to Him, He ran to her and He took her home. What the enemy meant for evil, God turned into good. It was not the ending I had hoped for, prayed for or expected. Do I fully understand why her life ended so young? No, I don’t. It would have been very easy for me to become angry and offended with the Lord. But I chose not to be angry. I chose to trust Him instead. Was it easy? No.

But like Abraham, I have come to know my Lord well enough to know that He is worthy of my trust. And that is all that matters. How about you?

What does a dead church look like?

Twenty five years ago, my family and I were part of a church that could only be described as our dream church. The worship was amazing. The preaching was good. The people were super friendly and we became friends with many of the families. We loved our pastor. What could possibly be wrong, you would ask yourself? 

But then one day the Lord gave me a message for the pastor that shook my world. I asked for confirmation and got it from the elders of the church. I called the pastor and told him I had a word for him, but that I wanted to give it to him in front of the elders. What came out of his mouth during that conversation, shocked me. He got angry at what I was suggesting and then  called me all sorts of names, including a false prophet. I had never seen this side of him in our years at this church. 

To make a long story short, I eventually gave him that message in front of the elders, and then watched in horror as the prophecy came to pass. Within 3 years the church was no more. It split and fell apart and the building we had rented was sold. The land lay fallow for about 7 years, becoming a barren wasteland and eventually, it was sold again and turned into a nursing home. The irony of it did not escape me. Needless to say, that pastor did not listen to what the Lord had told him to do.

So what was the message, you ask? It was very simple, actually. The Lord told me to tell the pastor to “let His Spirit be in control”. He told me to tell my pastor that the Lord was giving him a choice that day. Just as Moses gave Israel a choice in Deuteronomy 11:26-28, so He was giving my pastor a choice. Here was the choice: “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.” 

It took me years to come to grips with what happened. My kids were traumatized by the impact of the situation. I remember my son saying to me “hypocrisy is the hottest fire to go through, Mom”! Indeed.

Sadly, there are many wolves in sheep’s clothing in the church. The damage that they do to people is indescribable. We are left with so many questions. How? Why? What really happened? 

Even after 25 years I do not begin to fully understand how someone can get in a pulpit and act this way, but the Lord has given me some insight, which I would like to share here. 

Let me start with a scripture that only recently made sense to me. In Revelation 3:1 Jesus is talking to the church of Sardis. Here’s what He tells them: “These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.” Notice how Jesus describes himself in that passage. He has the seven spirits of God. Although not taught much, the Holy Spirit has seven attributes. Isaiah 11:2 describes the coming Messiah as having the following “resting” on Him: “The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. 

Second, notice that this church has a great reputation: it has a name for being alive! It no doubt has many wonderful ministries, perhaps several campuses, maybe numerous pastors and leaders taking care of the sheep. But Jesus calls this church dead! Ouch. How does that happen?

Let me ask you a question. What happens when someone dies? Does their spirit leave their body? Their heart stop beating? Have you ever heard of a dead person who still had their spirit? Seems like a dumb question, doesn’t it? When the spirit is gone, the person is dead. Are you beginning to see where this is going? When the Holy Spirit is gone from a church, that church is dead! But, (you might say), my church acknowledges the Holy Spirit! Yup, I’m sure they do. They acknowledge Him. 

Here’s another question for you. I’m making you think today. Why was the Holy Spirit given to the church? Never mind what you’ve been taught. Let’s look at what the Bible says. I will share only a small portion of the verses, scattered throughout the Bible that helps us to know the answer to this.

 Peter tells the crowd in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, that God said He would give us His spirit. I guess God thought it was a good idea? In Acts 2:17 Peter quotes the book of Joel: “’And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh.”

Ok, so God wanted to do it. But why? Was it only for the early church because they needed help getting the church off the ground, but we are so smart now, that we no longer need His help? Sounds silly when you put it like that, doesn’t it. But that kind of thinking would also explain a lot. Like why we think a church is alive and thriving, but Jesus thinks it’s dead.

So why did God send the Holy Spirit? Let’s look at some verses. Jesus tells the disciples in John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.” Actually, the flesh does bring in profits, but not the kind Jesus is looking for. But I digress.

Paul tells us in Romans 8:9 the following: “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”

So what Paul is saying here is that if you don’t have the spirit of God dwelling in you, you don’t belong to Jesus. Why? Because you must be “born again”. (John 3:3)

Paul goes on in Romans 8 to tell us more things the Spirit does for us. In Verses 18-25 Paul tells us that the Spirit helps us to eagerly wait for the redemption of our bodies. The Spirit, in other words, gives us the desire to be with Jesus, as we eagerly await his coming. 

Romans 8:26 says this: “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” In other words, the Spirit of God teaches us how to pray.

Here’s a good one: Romans 8:27 “Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” The Holy Spirit, when He lives in us, searches our hearts so that He can make intercession for us, according to the will of God. That’s like built in flood insurance. He protects us because He knows us and prays for us. How wonderful is that”!

In 1 Corinthians 10:12, Paul is telling the church that we can only begin to imagine the things that God has prepared for those who love Him. But, then he shares with them, that the Holy Spirit will reveal some of those things to us: “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” The Holy Spirit searches the mind of God and then teaches/shares those things with us, those who love Him. Does that blow your mind? It does mine!

In Ephesians 3:16, Paul encourages the church that the Holy Spirit will strengthen them with might or power, in the inner man! The word might is the Greek word dynamis, which means miracle working power. 

Hebrews 2 tells us that we should not neglect our own salvation, lest we “drift away” and that  “God also (bore) witness (of who Jesus really is) both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? The Holy Spirit gives us gifts, so that we can minister to others. 

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12 to not be ignorant of the gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:4 says, “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit”. He then goes on to mention different gifts and that they were given to the church to edify us. Now again, let me ask you a question. What “gifts” do most churches desire in their congregation? I would suggest “gifts” such as greeting people, working in the nursery, serving coffee or communion, maybe singing on the worship team and no doubt others. All good “gifts”, necessary to run a good business. 

But if we look at the gifts that Paul describes, none of these “gifts” are mentioned. Here are the gifts that Paul mentions:  “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” Might I suggest that most of these gifts of the Spirit, or as Paul calls them, manifestation of the Spirit, are not welcome in your local church. Do you still believe that the church believes in the Holy Spirit? If they believed the Holy Spirit is God Almighty, do you not think they would allow Him to manifest Himself? 

What are we then left with, if we attend a church that does not allow the Holy Spirit to be in control? We are left with a dead church. When the church I attended all those years ago, split and died, it was really just revealing in the physical what had already happened in the spiritual. 

We cannot change other people, even those in leadership in our church. But, this we can do: we can make certain that we are born again, and that we are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. How? Ask. You have not because you ask not. Ask the Lord to fill you with His power. Ask Him to manifest His Spirit through you and to show you the gifts He has given to you, so that you can edify His body. It might just be the most important thing you ever do.

Is the rapture of the church for real?

I was sitting in church a few weeks ago, waiting for the service to begin when I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation between two women behind me. They were talking about current events and scary things they had seen on the news. One of them felt the need to share a teaching she had heard about the church having to go through the tribulation period and that somehow God would protect His people while on earth. I have to confess that this conversation made me both sad and afraid. Sad for them because of their fear, and afraid, because it made me question what I know to be true. 

Let me ask you a question that might not look like it relates to the above situation, but if you bear with me it will make sense. If your spouse had been gone for a whole year and you knew they were finally coming home, would you not eagerly anticipate and wait for their arrival? Would you not be excited for them to finally come home? Would you wait at the window, keep watch, look at the clock and be filled with joy at their return? Now let’s assume that someone else told you while you were waiting, that they weren’t really coming home at all. What would you do? Would you believe them? Would you just accept their word, or would you look into the matter yourself? Would you read your spouse’s letters again? Would you ponder on what they told you and the details they gave you, or just give up in confusion? I would strongly suggest that you would not give up. You would reread the letters, study the details and continue to wait. Why? Because you love them and you can’t wait to see them again!

I spent my entire Christian walk believing that one day, Jesus Christ would rapture His church and then the tribulation would begin. But then, about 3 or 4 years ago, I started to hear evil reports, teachings from preachers who told me that there was no rapture, or worse that the millennium had somehow started back in 70 AD, and that the book of Revelation was just an allegory. A fairy tale if you will. It sent me into a tailspin of confusion. I honestly began to wonder if I had believed incorrectly all those years. But instead of just believing the teachers who preached those things, I did the only thing that made sense to me. I went back to the “Letters”. I went back and searched the Scriptures. What does God’s word, the author of all of it, the One who wrote the book, say about it? 

I discovered several incredible things that put my heart at ease and made me go back to the window, and keep watch. I’d like to share those things with you, in case you are struggling with the same issues.

Let’s start with the elephant in the room. No, the word rapture does not appear in the Greek translation of Scripture. The New Testament was first written in Latin and only later translated into Greek. It is the Latin word “Rapturo” where we get our word rapture from. In the Greek, it is translated as “Harpazo”. 

Here’s what Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18: “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up (harpazo) together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 

Notice that we are to comfort one another with these words. Teaching that the church will go through the tribulation is not a comfort, at least it isn’t for me.

Moving on, did you know that there were several people in the Bible who have been raptured? It’s actually not a new concept at all. 

Enoch was no doubt the first one. Genesis 5:23-24 gives us the following account:

“And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” The word “took” in the Hebrew means to carry away, to fetch or seize. In case we are confused about what happened here, the writer of Hebrews clarifies it for us. Hebrews 11:5 says the following: “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” 

The prophet Elijah was also raptured. Elisha, who was Elijah’s student, describes the event to us in amazing detail in 2 Kings 2:11: “Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” That must have been quite a sight!

Jesus, after rising from the dead and spending several weeks with His disciples, was taken up to heaven in Mark 16:19. We are once again given more details of what happened in Acts 1:9-11: “Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

Why did I share these stories? Because the concept of being raptured is not some crazy idea made up by man. It is not a new concept, as some would have you believe. It is Biblical!

I also have to bring up the character of God. Who is this Savior that I trust in? We are told two stories in the Bible that describe the wrath of God on an ungodly city or even an ungodly and wicked world. The story of Noah’s flood in Genesis 6-7 gives us details about how Noah built an ark and then saved some of each type of animal, and also his own family. God tells Noah why He was bringing a great flood to the world: “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” Genesis 6:13. Why did God choose to save Noah? He told him that also: 

“Then the LORD said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.” Genesis 7:1

The second story of God’s wrath is of course the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Why were these cities destroyed? Again, God told Abraham: “And the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” Genesis 18:20 

The whole sordid story about these cities and their destruction, and, we must not forget, Abraham’s intercession on their behalf, can be found in Genesis 18 and 19. But here’s the point I want to make. Before God brought destruction, He saved a family. He saved Abraham’s nephew Lot and his wife and children. The angels that brought destruction actually said to Lot “Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” (Genesis 19:22) They could not destroy the city of Sodom until Lot was safe. Interesting, don’t you think?

I want you to notice that each of these families were rescued because of their righteous deeds. God’s wrath is not on the righteous. When He brings destruction, commonly called judgement, he removes the righteous. 

I’ve heard it taught that the tribulation is not God’s wrath, but Satan’s wrath. Really? Let’s go back to the source and see what the Bible teaches us. 

Let’s start with who is in control. In Revelation 5:1-5 we are shown through the eyes of the apostle John a scene in heaven. It is a very dramatic scene, so much so that John even begins to weep:

“I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it; and one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.” 

Why the drama about who could open that scroll? Obviously, those in heaven knew who was worthy! It was only John who didn’t know. Therefore, we can assume that this dramatic scene is for our benefit. It is to prove to us, the reader, that the only one in heaven and on earth that has the power and authority and is worthy to open that scroll, is Jesus Christ. No one else! Who is in control? This passage tells us. The tribulation is the wrath of God. It is not the wrath of man, neither is it the wrath of Satan, as many like to teach. 

Paul gives us this word of encouragement: we are “to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come”. (1 Thessalonians 1:10)

Before I end, I want to encourage you with something. Don’t take my word for it. Go back to the source. Read the Bible. Read the book of Revelation. Read the stories in Genesis and ask God to give you the wisdom to understand. Almost 30% of the Bible is prophecy. God wants us to understand what is soon coming on the earth. He is not the author of confusion. He wants us to be comforted by the fact that not only is He in control, but He’s coming back for those that are His! 

Let me leave you with these words of Paul in Titus 2:11-14:

“For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.”

If you’ve lost hope and are confused, let me ask you this: Do you love Him? Then go back to the letters and search them! He is coming soon!