St John of the Cross

Love Sick Saints

By Ian Johnson 

A message inspired by the life of St John of the Cross 1542-1591

Song of Solomon 1:4 - The king hath brought me into his chambers; we will be glad and rejoice in thee; We will make mention of thy love more than of wine

PSALM 36:8-9 - You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your rivers of delight. For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.

A BETTER TRANSLATION IS They shall be inebriated with the plenty of your house; and will give them to drink of the torrent of your delight, because with you is the fountain of life

Your love is better than wine!

When people drink wine they become influenced by it

Therefore we need the wine of God! Because when we become intoxicated in His love, we become abandoned to its influence! Our cry! Therefore is; Fill me with your love Jesus; Draw me away in your love Jesus! Cause me to be intoxicated in your Love Jesus! Because that sort of abandoned heart is possessed by that which it abandons itself to. (From the Book “Glory to Glory” www.papelim.org.nz/page18.html )

A Love sick individual in Church history, John of the cross 1542-1591 was Imprisoned for nine months in a cell six feet wide & ten feet long, with a window only two inches wide, he composed some beautiful poems and songs. Being so in love with the Lord he didn’t make sense to the religious so they locked him up in the hope he would see some sense. He came out more in love and distracted by the Lord than when he went inside.

In prison St John of the cross wrote. “In the inner wine cellar I drank of my beloved, and when I went abroad through all this valley I no longer knew anything, and lost the herd which I was following.”

He also wrote: “South wind come, you that wakens love, breath through my garden, let its fragrance flow, and the beloved will feed amid the flowers.

His experience proved that no matter where we are, The Lord has gone there before us, and His love will always be found by those who seek it. (See Psalm 139)

There is no depth, No height, no Width to which we can go, that when we get there we find our Lord and master, our beloved Jesus

There is a place before God, A place of abandoned love, A place that seems irrelevant to a religious heart. Where we can drink deep of the wine of God. The more we drink the more abandoned we become, Then we become separated from the herd, who are blindly following programs and systems. To the herd we seem useless, unable to make sense because of our intoxicated nature.

But out of the prisons come songs of abundant love. A place where we go on from saying “Lord Breath on me” to “Breath through me”

John of the cross said. “The Garden is our soul, When the Lord breaths into the soul he imparts, but to breathe through the soul (garden) is to put in motion the fragrance.

It touches everything around us, and brings transformation. When I think of this I think of some friends, who when we were ministering in Wellington, were touched by the Holy Spirit, He breathed upon our friends in the lift of the hotel in which we had been staying, they became intoxicated in his love and unable to move just went up and down in the lift. Every time the door opened the same girl was standing there looking in at this unusual sight, the Holy Spirit breathed through the situation and the fragrance of this abandoned action touched the young lady, who by the way was a Muslim, She said, I want what your God gives, and they led her to the Lord.

You see a lot of people would say, just lock them up, After all we have to have a good testimony before the world, we have to be seen to have it all together, I mean the world won’t respond to or understand that intoxicated behaviour Will they?

John of the cross sums it up by say “God blesses his bride by breathing through her flowering garden, opens all these buds and uncovers the aromatic spices of gifts, and riches; and disclosing this interior treasure and wealth, He reveals all her beauty. Then she is something wonderful to behold and pleasant to handle.”

The world is thirsty and dry, the last thing they need is our nearly empty bottles of putrid religion. Rather they need to feel the breath of God. To see the joy of an abandoned life. They will say, What’s going on here? They will smell the fragrance of an inner beauty, that only comes from the Holy Spirit. Something wonderful to behold and pleasant to handle!

David dancing with an abandoned heart before the Lord, offends Michal his wife (the religious mindset) she despised him, but it pleased the Lord!

Matt Redman sums this up in His song “Undignified” The song goes; I will dance I will sing, to be mad for my King and nothing Lord is hindering the passion in my soul. And Ill become even more undignified than this, some would say its foolishness, but ill become even more undignified than this.

When we approach the Lord we need to come as if we ourselves are in a cell with nothing in our hands. All we can do is bow low before his majesty and glory, and drink deep of the wine of His love. Not distracted by our requests or our pleas, simply abandoned to his love, there we become intoxicated and our dance will please the Lord. it is Sure there will be a Michal to remind you of how you really should behave in the courts of the Lord, but just listen for the sound of His voice saying “Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter into your rest” That’s all that really matters at the end of the day.

May Jesus breath through your garden in 2008.

IAN JOHNSON

ianjohn@xtra.co.nz

www.hisamazinggloryministries.org

The Importance of Angelic Ministry

ANGELS - GET USED TO WORKING WITH THEM!

IAN JOHNSON

Angels – even the mention of the word seems to bring a shiver up the collective back of much of the body of Christ yet Angels are mentioned 375 times in the Bible, more than Love, Gospel, or Peace. 33% in the Old Testament 67% in the New. My first Pastor said to me that if something was mentioned once in the Bible it was important, twice very important and more than three times extremely important and we ignore at our peril! So it seems to me that if something is mentioned 375 times its important to the furthering of the Kingdom.

People often say “the Bible says you shouldn’t talk to Angels” and I say if you can find a scripture to back that up then 48 individuals that Ive found listed in the word from Genesis to Revelation who have had conversations with Angels must be in the wrong book.

The word is clear we shouldn’t worship Angels and it seems to me that if an Angel came into the room and asked to be worshiped or didn’t pick you up and say "get up for I am a servant of the Lord just as you are and The Lord alone is due our worship"; then I think you would know they were not from God.

Gal 1:8-9 Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including myself, who preaches any other message than the one we told you about. Even if an angel comes from heaven and preaches any other message, let him be forever cursed. I will say it again: If anyone preaches any other gospel than the one you welcomed, let God’s curse fall upon that person.

Paul in no uncertain terms made it clear that any messages received from Angels would always bring glory to the Lord and line up with a gospel of reconciliation through Jesus Christ.

2 Cor 11:14-15 Even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder his servants can also do it by pretending to be godly ministers. In the end they will get every bit of punishment their wicked deeds deserve.

The likes of Mohammad and Joseph Smith were deceived by an Angel of light and introduced a new false doctrine. If scripture had been followed this would not have been possible. Neither “Gospel” honours Jesus Christ as God and therefore cannot be of God. It should be said that any Angel that preaches any message outside that which was preached by the Apostles is False. Any Angel that seeks worship is false; the true Angels of God will rebuke us the moment we ever try. Any Angel that won’t confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh and is mans only hope of salvation is false. So there are plenty of ways to test the Spirits. The Angel that came to Joseph Smith was introducing a new Gospel of salvation where Jesus was seen as just a man. That should tell you something. The Angels that come to New Age worshipers will not accept that Jesus is the only way of Salvation! That should tell you something. The Angel that came to Mohammad said that Jesus was just one in a long line of Prophets but that Mohammad was the last and true prophet that should tell you something.

The only danger in talking to Angels is our own pride; Building our Kingdom and not the Lords. It’s not so hard to spot the deception if we walk in humility. Remember there is one Gospel and only one way to God and that is through Jesus Christ, who in fact is God. No Angel will receive worship if they are from God.

So before I tell you of some Angels Ive met I need to show you the biblical basis for talking with Angels or seeing Angels to help us understand why in this Age we need to more than ever look for the assistance of the Angelic host.

1) There are lots of them Revelation 5:11 says 10,000 x 10,000 and thousands of thousands. Well 10,000 x 10,000 is a Billion So with that description we can figure there are several Billion! Jesus said he could have asked for 12 legion of Angels to come to his aid if he desired, A legion is 6000, so Jesus had 72,000 Angels immediately at his call.

2) The Greek word translated Angels simply means Messengers

3) Angels are created beings and were created before the creation of the world Job 38:4-7 Col 1:16

4) They are Spirits Heb 1:14 Psalm 104:4

5) They are subject to Jesus Heb 1:4-6

6) They have powers of discernment 2 Sam 14:17 &20

7) They were created Holy Mark 8:38

8) They have a high level of wisdom Heb 2:7 but much lower than God Heb 1:4

9) They can have an awesome appearance Luke 1:11 Several times when an Angel appeared his first words were “Fear not”

10) They are attentive to the Father for instruction Matt 18:10

11) There are Angels assigned to individuals Matt 18:10

12) They are generally invisible but can become visible and eat food Luke 2:9

13) Angels are strong. One killed 185,000 Assyrians (2 Kings 19:35) one slew 70,000 Israelites (2 Sam 24:15-16)

14) Angels never die Luke 20:35-36

15) They have various names. Watchers, Holy ones, Holy Angels, Hosts, Sons of God, Sons of the mighty, Elect of God, ministering Spirits, Messengers, Angel of the Church, Guardians, Guardian Angels, Warriors and flaming fire.

What do they do?

1) Called to worship God Rev 5:11-12 , Rev 8:3-4

2) Called to protect the saints Matt 4:11, Dan 6:22

3) They lead Christians to the unsaved and unsaved to Christians Acts 8:26 , Acts 10:30-32

4) Look after Children Matt 18:10

5) Protect people Dan 6:22

6) Announce God’s plans Luke 2:13

7) Look into the affairs of men 1 Pet 1:12

8) Help to see the will of God performed in the earth Num 22:22 Balaam, Herods demise Acts 12:23

9) Take the Lords people home at death Luke 16:22

10) Encamp around those that fear the Lord Psalm 34:7

11) Form the Lords army Mat 16:22-27

12) Help reap the end time harvest Matt 13:39

The Bible says we should entertain strangers because we never know when we are entertaining Angels unaware Hebrews 13:2 This tells us that God expects us to expect Angels in our life. They are there to help us, and when someone gets saved the Angels rejoice, Luke 15:7

In the Scripture there is a long list of interventions by Angels, In fact Ive found 48 instances of two way conversations with Angels in many cases the course of human history has changed forever because of these interventions. However never has the spotlight been taken off The Father, Jesus or the Holy Spirit, by any of these interventions. Some of the Angelic encounters are quite different experiences, like Balaam's Donkey or Elishas servant but in all cases there is a victory for the true and living God.

Here are just a few of those who spoke to Angels or to whom Angels spoke. Do your own study sometimes it will surprise you! Hagar, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Lot ,Moses, Balaam's Donkey, Balaam, Joshua, All the Children of Israel in Judges 2:1-6, Gideon, Elijah , Elisha Angels & Horsemen, David, Daniel, Zechariah the Prophet, Elizabeth, Zechariah Father of John the Baptist, Mary, Joseph, Jesus, Shepherds, Wise men, Peter , John, Phillip, Stephen, Paul, The Women at the tomb, Cornelius All the Disciples when Jesus ascended.

I have had a number of experiences with Angels and there are millions of stories of Angelic activity in the Church right through the Ages and ever more so in this final hour of history.

Psalm 91:11 For he orders his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you with their hands to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.

Psalm 34:7 For the angel of the Lord guards all who fear him, and he rescues them.

God's Angels are on your side and its time to take hold of the supernatural realm and live in it. Kathie Walters always says. The Supernatural, the chariots and the Angels are meant to be a normal part of every Christians lives.

There was an evangelist in NZ many years ago called Bob Kingi, he had lots of Angel stories, but the one I loved the most was when he was ministering in Australia, the Lord moved powerfully in the morning service and there were many miracles, signs and wonders, but Bob was very late finishing, in fact there was no way he would make it to the night meeting several hours drive away. Bob thought to cancel the night meeting but the Holy Spirit compelled him to set out in his car. About 30 mins into his journey Bob saw a hitch hiker and decided to pick him up. When he took his back pack to put in the boot Bob noticed it was very light in fact it seemed empty, but he thought nothing of it. On the journey the man started to talk to Bob about the wonders of the Lord. And all track of time was lost. Suddenly the man said this is where I get out Bob said, there’s nothing here we are in the middle of nowhere, but the man insisted, so Bob let him out, the man blessed bob in the name of the Lord and Bob drove off, looking in his rear view mirror there was no sign of his passenger, within five minutes Bob arrived in the town he was due to speak at in the evening, he looked at his watch and realised he had fifteen minutes to spare before the meeting began, The five hour journey had only taken one & a half hours to complete, His passenger had to be an Angel, Bob and his car had been translated in time. Did Bob become deceived by this experience? Not at all up until the time of his death, he preached the Gospel of Jesus.

I once knew a Christian Traffic officer who found himself in a very difficult situation one nigh with a group of thugs; the ugly men were coming toward him with pipes and knives and meant to do a lot of damage to him. Suddenly they just turned and ran. Latter the men were arrested on another matter and the traffic officer was curious to know why the men had run. They told him it was because of the five big men who stepped out of his car and started moving toward them. Angels! Did this situation deceive my friend, not at all, it encouraged his faith and he became a Pastor.

In 2003 I was ministering in Melbourne Australia and the meeting had gone well but I felt a little discouraged and said to the Lord when I got into my room. Did that meeting make a difference in the Spirit? Very soon an Angel appeared to me and encouraged me, telling me some of the results, I needed that, did it deceive me, not at all, in fact he encouraged me to push on through in my ministry, and caused me to worship Jesus for caring enough about my feelings to send a messenger.

In 2004 & 2005 I was uplifted in the spirit by an Angel & Chariot at meetings being conducted by Kathie Walters in New Zealand and Australia. The first time I was shown several nations and taken to the western wall in Jerusalem. There I was given orders and a commissioning to Israel & the nations we had visited. In 2004 – 2007 in the natural what I had seen was just a dream, we went through very hard times and it seemed impossible that I would ever see some of these nations. Then In March 2008 an Angel of breakthrough came to me in a meeting and declared “Breakthrough” Since that time I have visited Australia, Israel, Malaysia Singapore & Turkey, doors of ministry have opened in other places I visited on that journey of instruction and commissioning.

Have these visitations (and there now have been many) taken me away from the call to take the gospel and spread the glory of His Kingdom to the nations. No its increased 1000 fold and my love for Jesus and his glory in the earth has increased, my abandonment to the Father and my hunger for the Holy Spirit have been fuelled by these visitations.

If we close our lives to the work of Angels we miss a big part of what God wants to do with us! My feeling is, that if we want to see the results that the early Church saw and we want to see multitudes saved, if our desire is to see the will of God fulfilled in the world, and we want to remain safe doing it, then we are going to have to work with the Angels to see the work done. The Church was born in supernatural power by the God of Israel who has always demonstrated to the Jewish people that they have lots of help through Angelic intervention.

Each one of you have at least one Angel who works on your behalf, if you are in Ministry you will have several. I know of four who work with me when I’m ministering each has a different function and I very seldom make mention of them. Because their desire like mine is to see Jesus glorified but they are there and work with me at the command of the Father.

Each Church that is ordained of God will have an Angel assigned to it. They are so passionate about protecting the Church they are assigned to they will block anything that is not sanctioned by the Church leaders. The Lord allowed me to see this when I was Ministering in Perth Western Australia. The Pastor didn’t introduce me but just said to me just get up and go for it. Well I was allowed to see the Church Angel and he wouldn’t stand aside and let my ministering Angels come forward. I said to the Pastor do you mind just introducing me and welcoming me into the Church, this he did and immediately the Church Angel stood back and my ministering Angels came forward. We had an amazing move of God but if we hadn’t done that things would have been tough. I was in another Church one time when a prophetic anointing came on me and I began to declare what I was seeing for the Church. The Angel of the Church got so excited that he began to slap me on the back in encouragement. Now every one wondered why I was making sudden moves to the left and the right, it was just an excited Church Angel.

Don’t be afraid of the Angelic realm. Don’t fall into the trap of blocking out the Angelic help available to you and your ministry; The Father won’t give you a stone if you ask for bread, or he won’t give you a scorpion if you ask for a fish. Sure there are bad Angels around who work for the Devil, but the good news is that there are two thirds of all the Angels on your side and they really want to help us see Jesus the King & His Kingdom established.

As we enter the last days we are going to see an outpouring of the Supernatural because God is a supernatural God who lives in a supernatural place and does supernatural things. The new age folk are more used to seeing into the Supernatural than the Church, and that’s not how it’s meant to be. Don’t allow the fear of deception cause you to throw the baby out with the bath water.

The encounters you have may seem just like a dream at first like Peter when the Angel broke him out of prison. Peter understood that it wasn’t a dream when he was half way across the street and totally out of prison. Some of you have had experiences just like that and have dismissed it. When I first went in a Chariot it took an act of faith on my part to step into the chariot. But the moment I stepped out in faith I was in the vision with the Angelic messenger and the start of a whole new ministry to the nations opened up before me.

Angels have been commanded to help you bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a dying world, they won’t step in to preach the Gospel that’s our job, but they will give you lots of help along the way. There’s a whole new world waiting for you to walk into.

Ask the Lord to show you the help you have with you; You may even have an experience like that of Elishas servant!

Ian Johnson

www.hisamazinggloryministries.org 

ianjohn@xtra.co.nz

Overcoming Sexual Sins By Retreating!

The Victory that Requires Retreat

Daryl Wingerd

Ready, aim, fire! 

Fix bayonets! Charge! 

Hold your ground and fight like men!

In days gone by, commands like these were among the ordinary sounds of the battlefield. The victorious army was the one that pushed forward. The winners were the men who overpowered and overran their enemy, forcing those who were not killed either to surrender or to run for their lives. "Retreat!" however, was a disgraceful word when shouted out by a military leader. It was an admission of defeat. More than one military officer has consigned his own soldiers to annihilation, or committed suicide himself, rather than utter that awful command.

Christians are at war against sin. As one example, we fight daily against sexual sin. But the biblical method for defeating this enemy is not to charge, or even to stand and fight. The Bible yells to us, "Retreat!"

"Flee immorality" (1 Cor. 6:18).

A handsome young Israelite named Joseph resisted and defeated sexual temptation by retreating. His master's wife tried to seduce him. Day after day she flattered him with sexual advances. Then one day she brazenly took hold of his clothing and said, "Lie with me."

Think about Joseph's choice of responses: He might have pulled her hands away from his clothing, and said, "Not me. I'm saving myself for marriage." He might have tried to reason with her about the folly of unfaithfulness. Or, he might have just said politely and firmly, "Please leave me alone," and then gone back to his work. These all would have been "stand your ground" responses. But Joseph knew remaining near the source of this temptation would lead to disaster. And so "he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside" (Gen. 39:12).

Joseph is not the only man who has defeated sexual temptation by wisely running away. A friend of mine once ran to his car and drove away when a seductively dressed woman approached him and attempted to engage him in friendly conversation. He did not run because she was repulsive or uninviting. He ran because she was attractive and obviously available, and because he sensed his own attraction to her&3151;at least to her body. He knew that even though he was a Christian, he was not strong enough to resist his fleshly passions while in close proximity to what would satisfy them. In obedience to Paul's command to flee immorality, he sounded the "retreat!" alarm in his mind and ran away.

Another way to "Flee immorality" is to avoid dwelling on past sins. By requiring yourself to "pay" for sexual sins in your conscience, you actually replay the events over and over in your mind. Rather than solving your problem, you make it worse.

As an illustration of the way this works, picture in your mind a purple gorilla seated in a fancy, white-tablecloth restaurant eating steak and lobster with a knife and fork. Can you see him? If not, close your eyes for a moment and really picture him in your mind. OK, now stop thinking about him. Put the image out of your mind . . . . You can see the problem, can't you? The image wasn't difficult to get into your mind, but it is very difficult to get out. Your mind absorbs easily yet expels reluctantly. The same is true of sexual images from past sins.

Instead of dwelling on your sinful failures, run away from sexual sin in your thoughts. Retreat for the sake of victory. If you have sinned, replace your self-debasing thoughts about that sin with thoughts about Christ. Think of the forgiveness you enjoy because of His death on the cross. Think about who you are—a new creation, a partaker of the divine nature, a child of God. In other words, train your mind to think as Paul instructed the Philippians: "If there is any excellence and if anything is worthy of praise, dwell on these things" (4:8). Remorse is a natural response to a sinful failure, and in the true Christian it leads to repentance. But after this, there is no benefit in morose meditation on past sexual sins.

Would a sensible man stand and fight with a swarm of angry hornets? NO! The wise man will run away (or dive into a pond).

Whether you drive away, run away, walk away, look away, or divert your thoughts, you are no coward if you obey God's command to retreat from sexual temptation. Only a fool would stand and fight with such a deadly foe.

Copyright © 2009 Daryl Wingerd 

Permission granted for reproduction in exact form, including web address. All other uses require written permission

www.CCWtoday.org

Finding the vestibule of heaven!

Others May, You Cannot

By G.D. Watson

If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 16:24-25 )

If God has called you to be truly like Jesus in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility. He will put on you such demands of obedience that you will not be allowed to follow other Christians. In many ways, He seems to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.

Others who seem to be very religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires, and scheme to carry out their plans, but you cannot. If you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others can brag about themselves, their work, their successes, their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing. If you begin to do so, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others will be allowed to succeed in making great sums of money, or having a legacy left to them, or in having luxuries, but God may supply you only on a day-to-day basis, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, a helpless dependence on Him and His unseen treasury.

The Lord may let others be honored and put forward while keeping you hidden in obscurity because He wants to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade.

God may let others be great, but keep you small. He will let others do a work for Him and get the credit, but He will make you work and toil without knowing how much you are doing. Then, to make your work still more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work which you have done; this to teach you the message of the Cross, humility, and something of the value of being cloaked with His nature.

The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch on you, and with a jealous love rebuke you for careless words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over.

So make up your mind that God is infinite and Sovereign and has a right to do as He pleases with His own, and that He may not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealings with you.

God will take you at your word. If you absolutely sell yourself to be His slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love and let other people say and do many things that you cannot. Settle it forever; you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue or chaining your hand or closing your eyes in ways which others are not dealt with. However, know this great secret of the Kingdom: When you are so completely possessed with the Living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven, the high calling of God.

G.D.Watson (1845-1924) was a Wesleyan Methodist minister and evangelist based in Los Angeles. His evangelistic campaigns took him to England, the West Indies, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Korea. He also wrote several books.

Where is Your dwelling place?

Come and See

By Francis Frangipane

www.frangipane.org

John and Andrew began their spiritual commitment to God’s will as disciples of John the Baptist. In fact, they had actually been standing near the prophet when Jesus walked by. As the Baptizer saw Jesus, he cried out, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” and from that moment the two disciples began to follow Jesus (John 1:35-37).

This was an insightful account. It is John’s handwritten testimony of how he came to the Son of God. Yet, John has deeper truths to reveal beyond this historic portrayal. He is also going to reveal what we should each ultimately seek when we come to Christ.

Let’s pick up the narrative. The two disciples, having heard and believed John’s messianic proclamation about Jesus, are now walking, perhaps hurriedly, to catch up to Jesus. They are within conversation range.

Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest Thou? He saith unto them, Come and see.

—John 1:38-39 KJV

There are many reasons one comes to Christ. We may seek Him for health issues or to possess the keys to prosperity. Perhaps we need deliverance or are burdened with the cares of a loved one. Yet, as the Lord asked John and Andrew, so He asks each of us: what are you seeking in life? What goals compel us? When we approach the final season of our lives, will the things we have achieved be transferable into eternal accounts? Or will we have spent our time and energies on that which is void of true life?

Jesus asks, “What are you seeking?” It is a very important question. The Lord desires that we take inventory of our passions and objectives, and then chart our course toward heavenly values. You see, many say they love Jesus. What they mean is that, in time, they hope to get around to loving Jesus. Right now, however, they barely know Him and almost never spend time seeking Him.

The proof that we love Him is that we keep His commandments (John 14:15). What must He think when so many who say they love Him are, in fact, not loving Him but actually having an affair with this world? May God have mercy.

Yet, this is not your situation. In spite of your flaws and weaknesses, you sincerely desire to possess more of God. You have emerged from your past trials, determined to walk closer to the Lord. Indeed, Christ sees this holy desire and, to Him, it is the most precious part of you.

The Lord’s heart is also moved toward those who follow Him, though they may walk limping. To those wounded by injustice or the effects of sin, the Lord’s promise remains faithful: “A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish.” Surely, He will bring to victory the justice due you (Isa. 42:3; Matt. 12:20).

Like John and Andrew, we, too, “behold the Lamb of God.” Just as He asked them, so He asks us, “What are you seeking?”

The Dwelling Place of Christ

In response to Jesus’ probing question, the disciples’ answer may seem strange. For they did not ask Him for greater power or one of His many spiritual gifts. Instead, they asked Jesus something more personal, and intimate: “Where dwellest Thou?”

I’d like us to consider the poignancy of their answer. They wanted to know where Jesus lived. There are times when a question transcends the simple boundaries of intellectual curiosity and actually reveals one’s quest in life. Such is now the case: they are seeking to live with Jesus. They are searching for the dwelling place of God.

Our Father wants us to ask for spiritual gifts and special blessings of health and financial prosperity. To desire these things is not wrong; it is just not enough. Inside the heart of a God-seeker is a quest for more. We are in search of the “dwelling places” of God. In truth, our hearts have been divinely programmed. There are within us “the highways to Zion” (Ps. 84).

Our destination is nothing less than oneness with Christ. All fruitfulness comes from living in spiritual union with Jesus. In contrast, whatever we offer as service to God that is not the result of our union with Christ, that labor is in vain; it is a weak comfort. For apart from Him, we can do nothing.

John tells us in his first epistle that those who say they abide in Him ought to walk “in the same manner as He walked” (1 John 2:6). Abiding in Jesus leads to walking like Jesus.

Beloved, there is yet much more to learn and discover concerning our Lord! We must beware of spiritual complacency. Recall the prayer of Moses: At the end of his life – after being used by God to confront and defeat the gods of Egypt, after dwelling in the Lord’s glory and beholding miracle after miracle for forty years – Moses prayed, “You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand” (Deut. 3:24).

You have begun? No matter how much we attain, no matter what revelations of God’s glory are ours, we have only begun to see His glory.

The disciples answered astutely, “Rabbi, where dwellest Thou?” May this become our prayer as well: Where do You live, O Son of God? Where is Your dwelling place? To all who feel similarly, Christ says to us what He promised them: “Come and see.”

Dear Master, I turn to You now. You are my life’s greatest goal. I desire to live with You, to abide in the wonder of a life united with You.

The following chapter has been taken from Pastor Frangipane's newest book to be released in November 2009, And I Will Be Found By You available from Arrow Bookstore.

Taken from Pastor Frangipane's newest book, And I Will Be Found By You. This book can be preordered now with no shipping or handling charges. It will be shipped approximately between Nov 28 and Dec 7. Retail $13.50.

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Dark Night? Is it Inevitable?

Who Experiences the Dark Night?

By Nancy Missler

www.khouse.org

As we saw in a previous article, the Lord allows the dark night to happen to all of His beloved children, and especially those who are the most faithful, the most loving and who want all of Him. As Revelation 3:19 says, God chastens those He loves.

This night season happens to people walking with the Lord for a long time; people who love Him with all their heart, mind and soul; people who have surrendered their lives to Him; people who are obedient to Him; and, people who fear Him. Again, remember Isaiah 50:10, “Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light?”

Joy Dawson, a wonderful author and Bible teacher, says that if we live righteous lives, then there is an inevitability that all of us will, at one time or another, experience God’s fire (a night of faith). Therefore, the longer we walk with the Lord, the more we can anticipate this experience (if we don’t choose to surrender everything to Him).

Great Christians are made by great trials. Pain, sorrow and failure are what produce men of God. Men with great dreams are often the ones who receive the greatest trials. Eternal lessons seem to require hard places. As Scripture says, the way we are made “perfect” (or whole or complete) is by suffering or by barring ourselves from sin and self (Heb. 2:10; 2 Tim. 3:12). Only by uncovering and exposing our defects, can God really heal us. First, He must take away all our external and internal supports (other than Himself), then, He can then strengthen our inner man and enable us to experience His fulness.

The dark night of the soul happens to people who have already accepted the Lord; those who have already given their lives to Him; those already filled with the Spirit; those who have already dedicated their lives to Him; those who have already asked for intimacy; and those who have already been set aside for God’s purposes of ministry.

Why Does God Send the Dark Night?

There seems to be three things that God is looking for in each of our lives: our conversion (salvation), our conviction and our consecration (sanctification).

God wants to know the full proof of us. He wants to know our real heart. Will we be obedient in all things (2 Cor. 2:9)? Will we obey Him, even when we can’t see Him or feel Him? Will we hold on to His truths even though we don’t understand what He is doing?

The kind of Love that God wants from us is a love that reaches to the point of full and total surrender. Remember, to really love God means to totally give ourselves over to Him. If we are discontent with what God has allowed in our lives, it’s a sure indication that we have not completely surrendered and abandoned ourselves to Him. Just as God had to keep testing and proving Israel, so He must continue to humble, abase and weaken us.

That way, He will see if we love Him, and we will see our total inability to live without Him. The Lord wants believers who have faith like Job, and who can say like he did, “Though You slay me, yet will I trust You.” When Job sought the Lord to know why the bad things were happening to him, he never got an answer from God. And it’s often the same with us.

God only tells us that He does have a plan for our lives and even though we don’t understand what that plan is or how it is going to work out, we must trust that He always has our best in view. We must learn to rely upon Him in spite of our circumstances, in spite of our logic and in spite of our human reason. These three things are not sources for spiritual guidance. We must trust that only God knows what is best for our lives and, therefore, whatever He allows into them He will use it for our good.

Lamentations 3:33 tells us that God does not afflict us to punish us or to be mean. He does so only to accomplish the sanctification that will ultimately bring us abundant Life. Without such a night season, however, very few of us would ever consent to the refining process God must do in each of our lives. Nevertheless, because He loves us so much, He allows the “little foxes” to come so that we will come out of ourselves and into His loving arms. The bottom line is that we must lose possession of ourselves, in order that we might be fully possessed by God.

As John 12:25 says, “He that loveth [hangs on to] his life shall lose it; and he that hateth [is willing to surrender] his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” In the middle of our night season, it’s so important to remember who has sent this to us and who will get us out of it. God is the only One who knows how to “perfectly” annihilate us; He is the only One who can be our guide through this time; and He is the only One who can get us through. As Psalm 105:19-20 says, “The word of the Lord tried him” and “the King sent and loosed him.” In other words, if God sends it, then only God can get us out.

God is the One who has called us and, thus, He is the only One who can perfect us and bring us into the inner chamber where He dwells. The initiative is always in God’s hands. No self-effort on our own part will ever work. Our oneness with Him will never be experienced until our soul is freed of itself and enabled to flow into God.

Goal and Purpose of the Dark Night

God’s purpose for all of His actions towards us is that Christ might be formed in us and that we might experience intimacy and fellowship with Him.

God wants to purge our souls from sin and self, so that we will be open and willing to follow Him at any cost. As we explored earlier, our will is what controls everything in our lives. God wants us to have a will that is completely yielded and at one with His own. One of the major purposes, then, of the dark night of the soul is to formulate an unshakable resolve in us, so that even if everything goes wrong in our lives and even if we can’t see or understand a thing of what God is doing, we will still choose to cling unmoveably to God. He wants us to be governed only by our choice of faith—a faith that says whether I live or die, I choose to trust in You, not my own thoughts and emotions.

God wants to produce in us a trust that can never be shaken. He is drawing us away from a life of senses and feelings and forcing us to turn to Him in naked faith (faith without feelings). He wants us to be able to constantly say and mean, “Not my will, but Yours” and “Though You slay me, yet will I trust You.”

God is teaching us, by darkening us, that all that matters in this life is knowing and loving Him. He wants us to love Him and rely upon Him regardless of what we desire, regardless of what our intellect is saying and regardless of what we are feeling.

He wants us to be able to echo what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:8-11: “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.”

By going through the dark night season and coming out even stronger in spirit, it shows God that He alone is important. It shows Him that we have left “all” (even ourselves) to follow Him.

Joy Dawson made an awesome audio tape entitled “In the Fire,” in which she describes God’s seven purposes for allowing the night seasons in our lives. These help us tremendously in understanding God’s goals and purposes. They are:

1) To melt hard substances and produce brokenness.

2) To destroy anything in our lives that is useless.

3) To reshape us and make us pliable for more use.

4) To make us more like Jesus, who is our example.

5) To endow us with more power. “Fire, glory and power are always linked.”

6) To experience for ourselves the “fellowship of His sufferings,” and

7) To teach us how to mentor and help others, by learning more about ourselves and our own responses to the night seasons.