cardscoffeeandgod

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.

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!

Have you ever wondered where credit cards came from? I did a little research and discovered that they were first introduced in the United States in the 1920’s by oil companies and hotel chains for customers to use at company outlets. To all intents and purposes, they were created to be used for travel. It wasn’t until the 1950’s however, that a universal credit card was created for people to use at a variety of establishments. 

Today of course, credit cards are widely used, especially in the United States and many people have sadly racked up a great deal of debt which they find difficult to pay back. Why? Because the whole nature of the credit system is to charge interest, or usury, so that the only one really benefiting from the credit card is the bank that hands them out. Very few people ever get out of credit card debt! 

Keeping that last thought in mind, I want to show you something in the Bible that very much looks like a credit card to me. Now before you think I’ve lost my mind, hear me out and let me walk you through the entire process. I believe it will all make sense in the end.

In the book of Genesis we are told the history of creation. God created the heavens and the earth and everything that lives and breathes, including man. After He created man, he also created a woman from Adam’s rib, thus creating a counterpart for him. The two became one, or as Adam put it, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh;

She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” (Genesis 2:23)  Sadly, after God had created them they disobeyed Him. God had planted a garden East of Eden, where He put the two of them, and told Adam that He could eat from any tree in the garden, except from a tree planted in the middle, which God called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The details are given in the book of Genesis, chapters 1-3. 

For our purposes today, I will focus on what happened that fateful day when Adam and Eve were walking through the garden, looking at the trees and deciding which one to eat from:

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1-5)

What the serpent said to the woman sounds pretty amazing doesn’t it? Here’s my modern vernacular: “Hey Eve, God’s lying to you. He just doesn’t want you to be like him. You won’t die. Trust me.”  Long story short, she believed him and they both ate its fruit and the results were immediate: “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.” (Genesis 3:7) 

What happened was immediate shame and condemnation. The shame was so great that not only did they try to make themselves clothes to cover their nakedness, but when they heard the Lord walking in the garden, as was his custom before the fall, they hid from him. This whole story is called “the fall of man”, when sin entered the world.  So where does this credit card I talked about earlier come in?

Let’s look at what Eve said to the Lord, when He questioned them about what happened. She said to Him, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:13 NASB) 

What she says here seems pretty straight forward, and so simple, in many ways. But I want to show you something. That little word “deceived” has some interesting origins in the original Hebrew. In both the New King James Bible and the English Standard Bible, the word used is nasa, which means to deceive or to lead astray. But, in the New American Standard Bible, we are given more information. In this translation, even though the original word is the same, nasa, we are given further revelation. In this case, it also means, “to lend on interest or usury, be a creditor”. I found this to be fascinating because it gives us so much more insight about what really happened that day. The serpent gave her a credit card: “Here Eve, if you believe me and eat that fruit, you will have wisdom and understanding, and in exchange you will forever be in my debt. But, you will never be able to pay back that loan, let alone the interest I’m going to charge you.” The serpent was right. There is nothing that we can do in our own strength or power that will ever pay back the debt of sin that we owe. We are born sinners, in need of a Savior. 

No, they didn’t physically die that day. As a matter of fact, they lived for hundreds of years. What died was their spirit. They now had a sin nature which they would pass on to their children and even down to us. That sin nature has separated us from the living God, from a Holy God. 

This is exactly why Jesus Christ, when He was dying on the cross, thousands of years later, cried out “It is finished”. (John 19:30) That word finished is teleo in the Greek and it means to “to end, i.e. complete, execute, conclude, discharge (a debt): — accomplish, make an end, expire, fill up, finish, go over, pay, perform.” Jesus paid our credit card off. He paid it in full! There’s only one catch. In order for His sacrifice on the cross to count towards that debt, we must be born again.

In the gospel of John, chapter 3, Jesus is talking to a ruler of the Jews named Nicodemus. Jesus tells him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” He goes on to tell Nicodemus in verse 5,  I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”. Your spirit must be born again. You must repent of your sins, acknowledge that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, died on the cross for your sins and then rose again on the third day. He is alive, sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven. He is Lord of lords and King of kings. If you believe that and repent of your sins, you will have eternal life. 

That credit card debt that all of us are born with can never be repaid in our own power. He is a holy God and we are separated from Him because of our sin. The good news, or what is commonly called the Gospel, is that He provided a way to get out of that debt: His name is Jesus.

Have you ever looked up the names of God in the Bible? I thought I knew most of them until I did a search on the internet and ran across a website that left me speechless. Here’s the link: https://www.allaboutbible.com/names-for-god-in-the-bible/#:~:text=

The author had posted a list of 270 names, yes, 270 names of God in the Bible. As I read through them I was in awe. With names such as Everlasting Father, Counselor, Anointed One, King of Glory and Comforter, how could I not be? That is just a small fraction of the names I read from the Bible. Truthfully, I have always wondered why Moses was told by the Lord in Exodus 3:14  “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.” What does that even mean? But as I looked through all those different names, I began to have a tiny bit of understanding. Like Job however, I started to realize, “By His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, And how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?” Job 26:13-14. 

Indeed. Even with all those names to describe Himself, I feel as though I understand only the edges of who He really is. I think He is too wonderful for any of us to truly grasp. And that brought me to another question. If He is that big, that powerful, and that wonderful, then why do I fear the wicked? Why do I watch them boast about their plans for humanity, their cruel schemes to destroy the righteous, and feel afraid? Yes, I am being very careful with my words here. These days one has to be. If you don’t know what I am talking about, search for a certain conference that took place in Switzerland this January, 2023 and read all about their meetings and speeches. They have amazing plans for humanity. If I didn’t know any better I would be afraid, very afraid of their plans. 

As I opened my Bible this morning, as is my custom, I began to read Psalm 52 and I realized as I pondered on the words of King David, that I have no reason to fear the wicked, for I know their end. God has already told me the end from the beginning! Let me share some of David’s words:

“Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The goodness of God endures continually.

Your tongue devises destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. You love evil more than good, lying rather than speaking righteousness. You love all devouring words, you deceitful tongue. God shall likewise destroy you forever; He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place, and uproot you from the land of the living.

The righteous also shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying, “Here is the man who did not make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.”

If you think I’m being dramatic with these words of David, you haven’t heard these leaders devise their destructive plans with their tongues. They have no shame. These rich and powerful people boast about becoming gods and living forever. 

I think one of the reasons why so many people are afraid these days is because the church has portrayed God as only a God of love and grace. But, like two sides of a coin, church leaders have for the most part forgotten to mention that He is also the Judge!  “He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.” Psalm 96:13 

We are told in Revelation that there is a judgment coming called “The Great White Throne Judgement”. John describes it in Revelation 20:11-15

“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”

The sad thing is that it will not only be the rich and famous who devise these evil plans for us, who will stand before that throne one day, (unless they repent), it will also be all those who reject God’s plan of salvation for them now, while they are still alive. You see, God is not keeping score of different sins. He doesn’t have a balance and if you did more good deeds and committed less bad deeds, you get into heaven. He has told us in Scripture that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. Romans 3:23 None of us is righteous, not even one. We might not be murderers, or thieves, or adulterers, but it doesn’t matter. We are all sinners and we are all in need of a savior. And that Savior is Jesus Christ, who died on a cross 2000 years ago. Here are the words of the prophet Isaiah (Isa 53:3-6) describing the coming Messiah who would die for the sins of the world:

“He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

King David (Psalm 22:16-18) gives us another graphic description of the crucifixion, a death sentence that would not even be invented until many years later, by the Romans:

“For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.”

So what are we to make of all this? Jesus the Christ fulfilled hundreds of prophecies when He came to earth as the suffering servant the first time. He has given us hundreds of prophecies that describe His second coming as well.  If you are born again, and trusting in Jesus Christ for your salvation, then I will encourage you to not be afraid. God is in control; He has a plan and it is His plan that will prevail. If you want to know what His plans for the wicked are, just read the book of Revelation. 

If you are reading this and you don’t know Jesus, but my words have put the fear of the Lord on you, then take heart. He loves you and has provided the way of salvation for you through Jesus Christ His Son. Repent of your sins, ask Him to forgive you and tell Him that you want to know Him. He will reveal Himself to you. He is a good Father to those who seek the truth.

I am writing this post during the season of waiting. I am of course referring to the holidays, the Christmas season for Christians. We wait in line, we wait at red lights, we wait for packages to arrive, we wait for family to come home, we wait for Christmas Day. Waiting is hard, no doubt about it. It doesn’t help that God tells us to wait on Him as well. Why God? Why do I have to wait so much? Why can’t I have my prayers answered now? Why can’t I know your will now? 

Probably the most well known verse, at least in my opinion, about waiting on God is Isaiah 40:31. “But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Whenever I have heard this verse quoted, it is usually in conjunction with waiting for answers to prayers. We are told that we must trust God and wait for His timing. I have no doubt or argument with this premise. I have waited many years for my prayers to be answered, some of them I am still waiting on. But I would like to propose that there is something else we must also wait for when it comes to the Lord. His voice!

Many years ago, I was taking a class at my church and our teacher gave us some homework I considered so difficult that it felt like punishment. She told us to spend 2 hours a week sitting and waiting quietly before the Lord. We were to be silent, not reading, not praying, and it had to be in one period of time. The first few weeks that we were to do this, I fell asleep within minutes. Have you ever tried sitting quietly for two hours? But it taught me something. Most of us came back to class with the same report: we had fallen asleep. Her response was precious. “That’s ok”, she said, “you were sleeping in the arms of your Father”.

Because waiting on His voice is so hard, we have been taught by many that we cannot initiate hearing God. Or even better, God only speaks occasionally, and certainly not now, because we have His word, His Bible that speaks to us. We are told that silence from heaven is normal and that God only spoke to people in the past because they didn’t have the Scriptures. Perhaps we have not been taught this directly, but if you think about it, how many pastors teach about hearing the voice of the Lord? At best, we are taught that God is a man of few words, and He only says one word. He never speaks in full sentences or a paragraph. 

But there is this thing that has always bothered me about hearing God’s voice. Jesus tells us in John 10:4-5 “And when he (Jesus) brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” What bothers me is that Jesus tells us here that the reason we are not led astray, or deceived by false prophets, false shepherds, false teachers, wolves in sheep’s clothing if you will, is because we don’t know their voices, we only know the voice of our shepherd. As a matter of fact, He says that we should know His voice so well, that when a stranger tries to get us to follow him, we flee!

If you’ve ever owned an animal, one that is loved and loves you, you will realize that they know your voice. Most animals will not follow a stranger. They only follow the voice of their master. It is the homeless animal, the lonely, abandoned animal roaming the streets, or left in a shelter, that follows a strangers voice, because it is looking for a home. Think on that. Are you looking for a home or do you know the voice of your Master, your Shepherd? 

If Jesus wants us to know His voice, then why is it so hard for us to know it? Let me go back to that scripture in Isaiah 40. Isaiah tells us that those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. That word wait is an interesting word in the Hebrew. It is translated in different ways, depending on the context it is used in. The first time it is used is by God Himself in Genesis 1:9 when He tells us that the waters would be “gathered together” at creation.  Sometimes it is translated as looked for, expected, or even hope, and of course, wait. All these words make me think of one thing, relationship. I cannot tell you how many times I have sat in my prayer room, waiting on Him, looking for Him, seeking Him, expecting Him to speak to me and heard nothing. But I did not give up. I waited and eventually, I heard His voice. The result: He renewed my strength. Did He ever test me to see if I was serious about hearing Him? Yes, all the time! Those early years, when I was still learning what His voice sounded like, the waiting seemed to take longer. He wanted to know just how serious I really was. Was He important enough for me to wait on Him? I learned that if I persevered, if I overcame the distractions, the impatience, the urge to give up, the desire to fall asleep, He would reward me by speaking to me. And yes, it has gotten easier to hear Him now. 

So what are some of the things that I have learned over the years about hearing the voice of the Lord? 

Perhaps the most important thing is that if I hear His voice today and He tells me something I need to listen and obey. Hebrews 3:15 tells us, “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” The writer of Hebrews warns us that the Israelites did not enter the promised land because of their disobedience to God and their unbelief. I must be careful that I do not walk in these same sins, disobedience and unbelief. 

Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:19 that we are not to quench the Spirit. If I am a born again believer, and I have the Holy Spirit living in me, then it would seem only reasonable that the Spirit would speak to me. If I don’t want to hear what He is saying, by not listening for whatever reason, then am I not in fact “quenching the Spirit”?

God does not limit His Spirit. John the Baptist tells us in John 3:34 “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.” There are no measuring cups in heaven. He doesn’t give a 1/4 cup to some, and 2 cups to another. He speaks to all who will listen.

And that brings me to to my final point. Jesus Himself tells us in Mark 4:24-25, “Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

Think about this last statement. The more you take the time to fellowship with the Lord, and listen for His voice, and believe that He wants to talk to you, the more He will speak to you. What a glorious promise that is. But, it comes with a warning. To those who don’t listen, who choose to close their ears, quench the spirit, disobey and walk away in unbelief, He will take away the ability to hear Him. It reminds me of what Jesus tells us in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. Jesus sends 7 letters to 7 churches, and He ends every single letter with this admonition: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

The Lord desires relationship. He tells us we are His friends, if we obey Him. But in order to be friends with someone, we have to be willing to spend time with them, listen to them and have a conversation with them. Good conversations have two ingredients: talking and listening! We must learn to wait on Him, to wait for His voice. If you have been running from His voice, afraid of what He might tell you, repent. If you lack the faith to believe He would speak to you, repent. He loves you and desires for you to know Him. How else will you know how to flee from strangers?

When I was just a child, maybe 8 or 9 years old, I used to go to bed at night and speak to god. I didn’t know his name, so I gave him a name that I liked very much, Charlie. Every night I would talk to Charlie and tell him about my life. Little did I know that the God of the universe was in fact listening to me. You see, He likes little children and He especially likes it when they talk to Him. 

This went on for months, maybe longer, I don’t really remember how long. But I do remember that one day, this unknown god that I had been talking to, introduced Himself to me. He told me His name is Jesus. Sadly, the adults in my life told me there is no god, so immediately my faith was stolen from me. But, that’s not where the story ends. No, this God, this Jesus, knew that in my heart I was still searching for Him, even though I now doubted that He was real. 

He pursued me and even protected me as I grew into a troubled teen, depressed and angry at the world. He would periodically send people into my life who would try to reintroduce me to Him, but I was not interested. Instead I found solace in other things, like alcohol, drugs, and sex. But those things do not really satisfy, as I was soon to realize and even though several years passed, I was still searching, looking for something that would give my life meaning and purpose. 

How about you? Are you searching? Perhaps looking for that unknown god? Or perhaps the gods that you’ve been introduced to by people have proven themselves lacking. Lacking in power, strength, substance, love, forgiveness? Perhaps you’ve grown up with religion, but you realized as you grew older, that religion doesn’t satisfy either. It’s just dry and dusty bones, white washed tombs, filled with dead things. 

You see, when this unknown god introduced Himself to me a second time, I was now an older teen, and He didn’t simply tell me his real name. No, this time He changed my life! I was literally born again! How you might ask? What did I do? And more importantly, what did He do? 

The day that I was born again, I realized that I was a sinner in need of a savior. I came face to face with the magnitude of my own sin and even though I was still young, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, I needed someone to forgive me for all that sin. I needed Someone who could wash me clean and give me a new life, someone who could make me a new creation. 

The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23-25 “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.”

Perhaps you’ve never read the Bible, or maybe you’ve read small passages, but it never made any sense to you. Maybe you were told by the “adults” in your life, that you can’t understand God, you can’t understand the Bible. Could it be that those adults are wrong? Jesus tells us in Matthew 18:3-4 “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” He is telling us here that the only thing that is required from us, is to have faith like a little child. 

Children have an uncanny and amazing ability to trust. We have a Heavenly Father, who loves us. The Bible tells us in John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” 

If you think about it, this plan of salvation really sounds absurd, doesn’t it? Why would God, any god, send His only Son and have Him die on a cross, have Him crucified, for my sin, for your sin? Indeed, only a little child could trust that they have a Father, a Heavenly Father, that loves them so much, that He would make a way, when there was no way. That my friend, requires childlike faith! 

Maybe as you have been reading this, you wonder if this God, this Jesus, could save you? Perhaps you have been serving a god who says that you should die for him? You have been told that if you want to go to heaven, you must sacrifice yourself and die for this god to accept you. But my God, my Jesus, says that He died for you and me. He says that if I will believe that He died for my sins, and trust Him like a little child would, that He will give me eternal life in heaven with Him. What a mighty God! What a faithful, loving Father! 

If your heart is burning within you and you too want to be forgiven, if you want to know what it is like to be loved this much, then come to Jesus. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you, to forgive you for your sins. Ask Him to have mercy on you and save your soul. He is faithful and He will hear your cries, just as He heard mine when I was just a child.