encouragement – Page 69

God, use me in a mighty way

Posted on December 1, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Do you ever pray that God would use you mightily? I do. I want to be used by Him and magnify His name. We often think of women in the bible who were used in a mighty way because they did mighty things. Deborah, military victor. Rahab, courageous with the spies of Israel; Mary humbly bearing the Savior. When we think of “mighty” we think of events large in scope.

But to be used of the Lord mightily can also be small in scope – but mighty just the same. The LORD will prosper His name and cast Glory onto Himself through His works. There is a small moment in the Bible worth looking at where a mighty work was done, glory shone on the LORD, but the one who did them is not even named! Yet her faith and her ‘one, small act’ was indeed mighty in scope and nature. Best of all, the Lord was glorified through them.

Naaman’s wife’s maid.

Rhoda was a maid, but named in the Bible. This girl was not even named. But no matter. Her act lives on!

Naaman was a Syrian General, humiliated because he contracted leprosy. Meanwhile, back at his home, his wife had been given a little slave girl to attend to her. This maid was an Israelite, captured and brought to a strange land. The Israelite slave girl was strong in faith and knowing of the works God through His spokesman at the time, Prophet Elisha. (2 Kings 5:1-19)

When Naaman and his household bemoaned Naaman’s leprous state, this little girl piped up. Her time away from her culture, the temple, the assembly, her God-loving home did nothing to diminish her enthusiasm for Yahweh. She extolled His virtues to Naaman’s wife, burbling over the many miracles of Elisha and the works God did through Him. This girl was small, but she knew her God was big.

I can’t imagine such strong faith. She bore no resentment toward her captors! If it was me, I’d probably mutter something like, “Good, he deserves leprosy. I hope he rots.” But then again, we know that what we deserve is death and hell. Only the largess of the grace bestowed upon us by God saves us from “what we deserve.” So this girl unashamedly and enthusiastically shared the knowledge of the Holy God who is able to do miracles. She did not hold back and lived a life of proclamation in word and deed. When the moment arose, she did not hesitate to share God as the solution to Naaman’s uncleanliness. Though Naaman’s leprosy was very real, in the Bible leprosy is always a metaphor also for unrighteousness. A leper was never pronounced cured. He was always pronounced “clean.”

We know the rest of the story. Elisha’s servant met the General, the General in his pride was angry. The prophet told the general to dip in the Jordan river seven times, Naaman’s pride again led him away from God’s solution. But entreaties from Naaman’s servants enticed Naaman to the river, and he finally did as he was instructed. he came up the 7th time, clean.

Naaman became a believer! (2 Kings 5:15a). The little girl was a messenger of the Good News, that cleansing was available from a Holy God. One might wonder why the second in command of an entirely strong nation would listen to the urgencies of a little slave maid. Her life was not contained in one plea to her mistress, but her life must have had a persistent genuineness and a spiritual credibility so that Naaman’s wife listened, and Naaman in turn listened too.

This nameless sprout of a slave from Israel living in captivity in Syria and to which only 20 verses recount the story, did a mighty work for God. When he returned to Syria who knows how much Naaman’s worship had an effect. A MIGHTY effect.

And then there is the lad with the loaves…(John 6) whom Andrew said were nothing against so many. Never let yourself feel that your words, your act, your gift, is too small and insignificant. The unnamed slave girl’s proclamation of God led to the mightiest work of all, a cleansed heart. The lad’s loaves in God’s hands multiplied and fed thousands. You don’t know, maybe your act or your few words, small as you think they may be, will be multiplied in ways incalculable for the Kingdom and in a manner which brings glories you cannot see to the Lord. Have faith and keep heart. You are not insignificant, but mightily significant!

encouragement, endless, God, infinity

Infinity

Posted on November 28, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

We’re familiar with infinity, even if we can’t really comprehend it. We know the Realtor selling point “there’s an infinity pool!” or the Toy Story motto “To Infinity and beyond!” which is pretty funny actually.

In the second grade classroom in which I am stationed as teacher aide, there is a number line above the Smart board. (AKA chalkboard for us old timers). To the left of zero are a host of negative numbers and to the right of zero is a host of increasing whole numbers. The teacher occasionally mentions to the kids that the numbers go on and on, to infinity.

When I was a schoolchild I learned about the number googol. I used to think that a googol was the largest number. It isn’t. But here is a Wikipedia definition of a googol:

A googol is the large number 10 to the 100. In decimal notation, it is written as the digit 1 followed by one hundred 0s. The term was coined in 1920 by 9-year-old Milton Sirotta (1911–1981), nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner. A googol has no special significance in mathematics. However, it is useful when comparing with other very large quantities such as the number of subatomic particles in the visible universe or the number of hypothetical possibilities in a chess game. Kasner used it to illustrate the difference between an unimaginably large number and infinity, and in this role it is sometimes used in teaching mathematics.

The ancients had a difficult time expressing just large numbers. For centuries, the standard way to describe any number over 10,000 was “myriad.” A really, REALLY big number would be ‘myriad myriads’. Here in Deuteronomy 32:30 ISV the rhetorical question is asked how could one of the the thinly populated Jews have put ten thousand soldiers to flight, or two of the Jews put “a myriad to flight”. Other translations say ten thousand.

How can one person chase a thousand of them and two put a myriad to flight, unless their Rock delivers them and the LORD gives them up?

Of course a verse that comes immediately to mind is Revelation 5:11-

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,

One day, the famous mathematician Archimedes (287BC-212BC) wanted to sort of count the number of grains of sand, Or rather, he wondered how many grains of sand would be the upper limit of grains of sand that could fit into the universe. Archimedes definitely had big thoughts.Yet he knew that ‘myriad upon myriad’ was not going to suffice as a reckoning for this large number experiment he desired to perform. Wikipedia says,

In order to do this, he had to estimate the size of the universe according to the contemporary model, and invent a way to talk about extremely large numbers. … Archimedes had to invent a system of naming large numbers. The number system in use at that time could express numbers up to a myriad (μυριάς — 10,000), and by utilizing the word “myriad” itself, one can immediately extend this to naming all numbers up to a myriad myriads (10 to the 8th power.)

And Archimedes went from there.

Anyway, the ancients had a hard time naming large numbers, and infinity is just beyond us all. It means endless, and comprehending endless numbers, or endless anything, is impossible.

Here’s another brain buster. The only reason we can even have numbers to infinity is because of God. God is infinite. He is beyond everything that there is.

This photo is of a book called God Does Exist!: Defending the faith using presuppositional apologetics, evidence, and the impossibility of the contrary. A Twitter friend posted this page from the book as he was studying. I read the excerpt he posted below, and became entranced with the idea of an infinite God and infinite numbers. You can click on the photo to enlarge it.

Even though in our own crude, puny human way, we can only express the majestic God as myriad upon myriad big, the fact that we have an infinite relationship with Him is enough. Our time with Him is endless, boundless, impossible to calculate. We will worship Him in infinite glory endlessly.

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His sheep know His voice and they follow. Inspiring video

Posted on November 26, 2015 by elizabethprata

Youtube synopsis:

Published on Nov 17, 2013

A little compilation of a visit to my friend, Christopher Lange’s farm at Harestua, Norway. I have long wanted to film this test, where we call for his sheep in the same words as he uses, and then let him do it. A Biblical lesson to learn from this!

The verse that comes to mind is

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. (John 10:27)

It’s an inspiring video, especially when we think about Lazarus, who was dead when Jesus called him, and he responded to his Master’s voice by coming alive again! If we are alive when He calls for us in the rapture, we also will respond to His voice, and “come up here” to be with Him.

HT to reader Ruby who alerted me to this video and to Jacco who found it.

encouragement, Felix, grace, procrastination, salvation, thanksgiving

Thankful for salvation: thoughts on Felix

Posted on November 26, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.” (Acts 24:24-25)

It is stated earlier that Felix was thoroughly familiar with “The Way”. (v. 22). Whether it was because Felix had been governor in the area for almost a decade, or because his wife was Jewish, or both, Felix was familiar with the facts about Jesus and his “sect” as Paul’s accuser Tertullus put it. Felix was secure in his knowledge of Christianity in the intellectual realms, enough to feel confident to make a decision regarding the case.

But when the case got personal, really personal, Felix became alarmed. He told Paul to go away and when it was a more convenient time, Felix would think about it. The Greek word for time used in this verse means “a suitable time” or “the right moment”. But there will never be a more convenient right moment.

As James Montgomery Boice said of Felix’s procrastination, if you put it off, the same sinful nature that made you put it off today will make you put it off tomorrow. Nothing will be different. In addition, you’ve begun a habit of procrastination which will only deepen and entrench. Tomorrow it will be worse for you. Now is the acceptable time (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Notice Felix’s alarm at being told of sin and judgment. In the Greek the meaning of terror is ‘being in the grip of a great Godly terror’. The word is used 5 times in the New Testament.

–When the women who brought spices to the tomb after Jesus’ death saw the gleaming angels, they were terrified.
–When they were gathered and Jesus appeared to His disciples they became terrified.
–Cornelius’ terror at seeing a holy angel in a God-given vision.
–In Revelation when a great earthquake occurred and a tenth of Jerusalem fell, the people became terrified and gave God in heaven glory.
–Felix, upon hearing Paul speak of sin and judgment.

You see, in each of the four cases, apart from Felix, the people became terrified upon directly seeing a slice of heaven. Or in the case of the earthquake they knew it was a mighty work of God Himself. And just as seeing a holy angel of God or experiencing God’s hand directly, Felix was experiencing heaven. It wasn’t just Paul speaking some words articulately and Felix becoming annoyed or a bit worried. It was the Holy Spirit opening the depths of Felix’s soul to see his own sin compared to heaven. It was a deep, spiritual terror. Paul’s words and their effect should have brought about the same reaction from Felix as Peter seeing Jesus as Lord of creation with the heavy, full nets of fish in Luke 5:8. Peter fell at Jesus feet, saying “Go away from me, I am a sinful man!” Felix said, “Uh, come back later, this is inconvenient for me.”

When Felix was confronted with his sin and positionally saw how far he was from Jesus, he should have done the same as Peter. Yet though the Lord graciously offered Felix the opportunity to see his sin in light of God’s glory, and though Felix did see it and became abjectly afraid, he procrastinated.

This is a decision. Jesus said whoever is not with Him is against Him. (Matthew 12:30).

So don’t let anyone sway you from evangelizing this way, talking of sin, self-control, righteousness, and the coming judgment. “Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” doesn’t have the same potential spiritual terror to pierce the soul as “You’re dead in your sins and Jesus is coming to judge you.”

There is no record in the Bible as to whether Felix found “a more convenient time” and reconciled to God. Probably not, seeing as the next verse records that Felix kept Paul in prison to see if Paul would cough up some money for a bribe. In this case, it IS worse for Felix. All that intellectual knowledge will put him in a worse position at the judgment.

For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. (2 Peter 2:21)

It’s Thanksgiving. I can think of no better gift than salvation to be thankful for. A close second is the Holy Spirit as a gift and a deposit inside us, illuminating the wonders of the Holy Bible to our mind and growing us in sanctification. Or perhaps Jesus forgiving our sins after salvation, or maybe it’s His chastisement which refines us into sterling silver and gold. Or maybe seeing the world, on our walk after the meal, and giving God the glory for His beautiful earth. Or His eternal, boundless grace. There is so MUCH to be thankful for, if you are a Christian. Offer the Gospel to someone today, maybe by next year at this time they will be praising God in gratitude for their reconciliation, and blessedly, Thanksgiving will have taken on a whole new meaning for them.

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East Greenwich High School senior privileges: The Courtyard

Posted on November 25, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I attended High School between 1974 and 1978. It was an excellent high school, offering high-end academics, a thriving sports program, a beautiful campus, and star teachers. To us, though, it was just high school, and the best thing about it was none of those things.

It was Senior Privileges.

Seniors were allowed entry to spaces in the school that no other students were allowed to enter. These spaces were severely restricted, and anyone who was not senior was barred.

For example, the Health Room was once a senior-only room, and was furnished with couches, a television, and refrigerator, if you can believe it. Even more unbelievable in this generation’s health-conscious era, of the area of the school’s inner courtyard where three brick walls connect was once reserved as a smoking area for students. Smoking is now banned on the entire campus.

I never took advantage of those privileges but there were two others that I enjoyed.

Seniors during the 1970’s and 1980’s could sign themselves in and out of school. If we had a study hall first period of the day, we were able to come in late. We were able to sign out of school in the case of a last period study hall. I used to sign out and go to McDonald’s and get breakfast, which was a new offering back then. McDonald’s introduced the Egg McMuffin in 1972 and a full breakfast in 1977. That was the year I became a senior and the novelty of the McMuffin and hash browns was too luscious to resist. I signed myself out of study hall and drove to get breakfast a la McD’s style, also bringing back orders for friends who didn’t have a car.

But the greatest privilege to me was that seniors-only could use the courtyard. The courtyard was not an arborist’s dream. It was a scrubby place, not really a greenspace, just well-worn paths amid gasping grass, concrete benches, the aforementioned smoking area, and some trees. But the school was large and being able to cut down travel time between classes to beat the bell was extremely compelling. Plus only seniors could go there.

All the Freshmen knew about senior privileges. We’d look upon the seniors emerging from the courtyard with awe, and excitedly talk about the day we, too, would be allowed entry into this most prized restricted area. I don’t have enough words to relate to you the thirst, angst, and yearning for senior privileges. WE were blocked out, but THEY could go hang out! They could go in and come out! They could remain in a private area just for them! We wanted that!

Courtyard at Hotel Inca Real, Cuenca, Ecuador.
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The parallel to God’s courts is the point I want to make here. Do we possess the same fervency to be in God’s courts? Do we yearn for the privilege of being in His courts?

The Psalmist said,

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Psalm 84:10)

The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the LORD, They will flourish in the courts of our God. (Psalm 92:12-13)

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! (Psalm 100:4)

I know when the time comes to enter His fabulously luxuriant and holy courts, it will be with thanksgiving and praise. But until then, do we yearn for His home, which is our home? Do we look with joy and anticipation when it will finally be our turn to enter the restricted area, the private area reserved for only those chosen? Do we crave to be there, enjoying the privilege of being in His court?

I can’t imagine what it will look like or what it will be like to enter His courts. The Bible tells us that we can’t conceive of it. My juvenile mind could not conceive of any privilege or any courtyard sweeter than the High School Courtyard reserved for those of a certain age. Just as now, my juvenile Christian mind cannot conceive of a courtyard sweeter or more tranquil that, say, the one at the Hotel Inca Real in Cuenca Ecuador, adorned with plants, tiled floors, resting benches, beauty and peace.

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”– (1 Corinthians 2:9)

But I can and do joyfully anticipate His courts even without being able to visualize them. It is quite humbling to think of Jesus preparing this place for us.

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bible, encouragement, good shepherd, sheepfold, shepherd

His sheep know His voice

Posted on November 22, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Jesus only calls those sheep whose names have been written down since before the foundation of the world. (Ephesians 1:4). Those sheep know His voice and listen to them. Those sheep follow Him out of the sheepfold and into green pastures. He doesn’t put a general call into the sheepfold and wait to see who will come out. He knows them by name, and He calls them.

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Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. (John 10:1-4)

John 10:1–2. Verses 1–5 describe a morning shepherding scene. A shepherd enters through a gate into a walled enclosure which has several flocks in one sheep pen. The enclosure, with stone walls, is guarded at night by a doorkeeper to prevent thieves and beasts of prey from entering. Anyone who would climb the wall would do it for no good purpose.

John 10:3–4. By contrast, the shepherd has a right to enter the sheep pen. The watchman opens the gate, and the shepherd comes in to call his own sheep by name (out from the other flocks). Shepherds knew their sheep well and gave them names. As sheep hear the sound of their owner’s familiar voice, they go to him. He leads them out of the pen till his flock is formed. Then he goes out toward the fields with the sheep following him.

John 10:5–6. If a stranger enters the pen, the sheep run away from him because his voice is not familiar. The point of this figure of speech consists in how a shepherd forms his flock. People come to God because He calls them (cf. vv. 16, 27; Rom. 8:28, 30). Their proper response to His call is to follow Him (cf. John 1:43; 8:12; 12:26; 21:19, 22). But this spiritual lesson was missed by those who heard Jesus, even though they certainly understood the local shepherd/sheep relationship. In their blindness, they could not see Jesus as the Lord who is the Shepherd (cf. Ps. 23).

John 10:7–9. Jesus then developed the shepherd/sheep figure of speech in another way. After a shepherd’s flock has been separated from the other sheep, he takes them to pasture. Near the pasture is an enclosure for the sheep. The shepherd takes his place in the doorway or entrance and functions as a door or gate. The sheep can go out to the pasture in front of the enclosure, or if afraid, they can retreat into the security of the enclosure. The spiritual meaning is that Jesus is the only Gate by which people can enter into God’s provision for them.

When Jesus said, All who ever came before Me were thieves and robbers, He referred to those leaders of the nation who cared not for the spiritual good of the people but only for themselves. Jesus the Shepherd provides security for His flock from enemies (whoever enters through Me will be saved, or “kept safe”). He also provides for their daily needs (the sheep come in and go out, and find pasture).

Source: Blum, E. A. (1985). John. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, pp. 309–310). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

The People’s Bible Encyclopedia, Charles Barnes

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demon possession, encouragement, john macarthur, joy, S. Lewis Johnson, salvation, sin

The joy of submitting to Jesus, and the tragedy of rejecting Him: two anecdotes (and a third)

Posted on November 19, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

There are two responses to the Gospel, yea or nay. Here is S. Lewis Johnson with an anecdote about a person who said yea.

Paul, His Gospel, and Thomas Jefferson

George Cutting is a man who is best known for the fact that he’s the author of a little pamphlet. You usually find it in tract racks of Christian churches. It’s entitled, “Safety, Certainty, and Enjoyment.” Mr. Cutting was just a simple Christian man who went around preaching the gospel. He was also a business man, as I remember, and one day he was bicycling through Norfolk in England. He was an Englishman. And he said it was early in the morning, and as he was going through, he was a very quiet man, he suddenly gained from the Lord the distinct impression that he should shout out a Bible verse. And so, right in the midst of this small town, there were just a few houses around, he shouted out “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” He said he cycled on a little bit longer, and the Lord seemed to say definitively to him, “Say it again.” So he said he shouted out, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.”

Six months later he was visiting in that little village, and he was doing, as he frequently did, just knocking on door after door. His first question, he said, was always, “Are you saved?” That’s called the direct approach. [Laughter] So a woman opened the door and he said, “Are you saved?” And she said, “Oh yes. About six months ago I was in great distress of soul. I plead with God to help me, and even while I was calling upon him, I heard a voice cry out, ‘Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.’” And she said, “I was startled. I wondered if I had really heard right.” She said, “I prayed again to the Lord, and I said, “Lord if that is the message, repeat it again.”

[Laughter] And she said, “And I heard it again and I trusted Christ, and I’m saved.” And Mr. Cutting had the joy of telling her that it was he who had called out the verse. That’s preaching. You know, when Paul tells us to be instant in season and out of season. And imagine there were lots of citizens in that little village who thought that it was very much out of season to hear a Bible verse shouted out early in the morning from one of their streets. But it was in season for that lady.

there is only one response to the message of the apostle, and that is to believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. Does salvation come by praying through? No. Does salvation come by paying the church? No. Does salvation come by good works? No. Does salvation come through religion? No. Does salvation come through some religious ritual which we practice, baptism, or sitting at the Lord’s Table? No. Does salvation come through the organization of the Christian church? No. You must be born again.

Here is John MacArthur with an anecdote on a person who said nay.

The Tragedy of Neglecting Salvation

And so, we believe it is a warning to the intellectually convinced, those who have heard the gospel, know the facts about Jesus Christ, know that He died for them, know that He desires to forgive their sin, know that He can some into their life and change their life but are not willing to receive Christ as Savior. And may I hasten to add that’s the most tragic category of people in existence. And I’ve told you a story once before that points it up as graphically as anything. I’ll never forget on one occasion when a lady came into my office and informed me that she was a prostitute. And she said, “I need help” And I said, “I guess you do.” And she said, “Please, I’m desperate.”

And so I presented the claims of Christ to her from beginning to end and I said, “Would you like to invite Jesus Christ into your life?” And she said yes. She said, “I’ve had it.” She was at the bottom to say the least through the dope scene, the whole bit. So she prayed a prayer and evidently she invited Christ into her life. And I said, “Now,” I said, “I want to ask you to do something.” I said, “Do you have your little book that you have all your contacts in with you?” And she said yes. I said, “Well, let’s just take a match here and we’ll burn it.” And she looked at me and she said, “What do you mean?” I said, “Just what I said. I mean, if you’re really going to live for Jesus Christ and you’ve really accepted His forgiveness and you really met Him as your Savior, let’s burn that book and we’ll just have a little party here and just praise the Lord.” And she said to me, “That’s worth a lot of money.” She said, “That’s worth an awful lot

Then she said to me, “I don’t want to burn my book.” Put it in her purse and looked at me right in the eye and said, “I guess I don’t really want Jesus, do I?” And she left.

Now you see, there was somebody who when the..when it really came down to the nitty gritty and counted the cost, she wasn’t ready. I don’t know what the story of that dear girl is. My heart has often ached for her and I’ve often thought about her. But I do know that she knows the facts and she believes them, but she’s not willing to make the sacrifice. And it’s a bad bargain, for what she kept wasn’t worth anything compared to what she could have had in Jesus Christ forever.

These days in 2015 it is not popular nor even accepted to speak of hell or demons. But they exist, they are active in the world, and they still do possess people, just as they did in the time of Luke 4:31-37. That’s the passage John MacArthur was preaching when he related this anecdote:

This is a rare thing. I’ve preached the gospel for a long time and only about three times in my whole life have I ever heard demons speak, been confronted. One of them was a few weeks ago, I told you about last week, right down in the front when a demon-possessed person came running down the aisle after I was preaching the gospel, exalting Christ’s power over the kingdom of darkness, came at me and said, “Why are you attacking me? Why are you trying to hurt me?” Which is exactly what the demon said here.

But it was some years ago when I had first come to Grace. We had built the family center and we were having services there before we built this facility. It was a Sunday night and after the service was over I was over having some food with somebody from the church and I got a call from Jerry Mitchell who was here a few weeks ago. He was on the staff at the time. He said, “You’ve got to come down here, John, I’ve got a…I’ve got a girl in here whose got all kinds of demon voices.” He had never experienced anything like this and I never had either. And I said, “Well I don’t know if I could be much help but I’ll come right down.”

So I came down, I walked in and there was chaos in the office. It was over in the building by the family center, and I walked in and the place was in disarray and it was obvious that she had been terrorizing things. She had overturned the desk and poor Jerry who was a boxer in the Navy was having a hard time defending himself against this girl, and that is characteristic of New Testament accounts where there’s a certain level of strength that’s beyond normal. And I’ll never forget the greeting when I walked in the door. I walked in the door and this…out of this girl’s mouth — whom I had met and with whom I had spoken because she had been coming to the church — came this voice, and I can’t, obviously, replicate it. But in my memory I know what the voice said. It’s something like: “Not him, not him, not him, get him out, get him out, get him out,” to me.

Well my first reaction was, “I’m leaving. I’m not sure I’m up to this.” Wow! And my second reaction was, “They know who I am and they know whose side I’m on, that’s very affirming.” It was affirming. I sort of started feeling apostolic. Paul I know and Jesus I know and John MacArthur, you know? Wow! Amazing!

I don’t think that demon was afraid of me humanly. I don’t have any human power to deal with demons. In fact, Jerry and I didn’t know what to do. We started trying to send the demons away. We sent them everywhere you could think of, the pit, the abyss, Phoenix, anywhere hot, you know. And the bottom…the bottom line is they didn’t go anywhere and so we just were praying and saying, “You know, this isn’t working, this casting out thing isn’t working. I’m not Jesus and we’re not apostles and we don’t have authority over that kingdom.” There’s only one way that this girl will ever be delivered and that is when Christ delivers her in the act of salvation.

So we wrestled, literally physically trying to restrain her and get her in a chair and she was so exhausted physically and finally calmed down and we gave her the gospel. And she confessed her sin. I’ll never forget it, just really gushed out her sin before the Lord and embraced Jesus Christ and then it was just this calm that came everywhere. There was deliverance. Nothing to do with me, nothing to do with a formula, nothing to do with an exorcism, nothing to do with that at all, that…that is not what deals with demons. She needed to be delivered from the kingdom of darkness, you understand that? And she was. She was.

The demon was terrified of me not because of something I could do in the human. The demon was terrified of me because the demon connected me with the message of the gospel. And the demon knew that if the gospel came to this girl and she believed that he was finished. And that’s exactly what happened. She was as clean as the driven snow after that and never had another occasion of that kind of terrifying experience.

Anyone who is not of Christ and in His sheepfold is under bondage to the god of this world, satan They are serving him, whether they believe it or not. And anyone who has not confessed their sins and submitted to the Gospel is at risk for being possessed by a demon.

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6). Does that means He might be far? Yes. Someday, He might turn a person over to their sin in a hardened heart and salvation might not be possible after that. His grace, peace, mercy, and love is manifold. Having the gentle and lovely Spirit inside of us is a ‘burden’ that is easy. As we saw from the anecdote about the demon, having satan in us is a burden that is harsh and heavy. How many woes lay in the demon direction, and how many blessings there are in Christ. Seek Him while ye may!

children, encouragement, jesus, truth

Encore: Is Today the Day?

Posted on November 17, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Re-post from 2011.

Is today that day that You will call for your church to heaven?
Is today that day You will present a bride to Your Son?
Is today the day You will deal with sin in the world?
Is today that day You will send another warning to the unrepentant?
Is today the day You will quicken the Spirit inside me to grow in Christlikeness?
Is today the day You will send the Spirit to draw my family to the cross?
Is today the day You will grow me in the spiritual fruits?
Is today the day You will chasten me, your child?
Is today the day You will send ministering angels to help me?
Is today the day You will give this land to Abraham and his offspring forever?
Is today the day You will bring Your people out from under the yoke of oppression?
Is today the day You will show Yourself in glory and power?

Today could be the day. For many of these, today IS the day. For others, soon will be the day. The Lord’s promises are true. They will be fulfilled. May His name be forever blessed.

comfort, encouragement, paris, tribulation

Paris attacks, more links and more encouragement

Posted on November 14, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I’ll be passing along links and verses and essays during the day on The End Time Facebook page that in my opinion help us work thought last night’s Paris horror, to dampen fear of the same occurring in the US and pointing to Christ.

Here is last night’s essay, I pray it encourages you.

Everything is ALL about man’s relationship to God. He gives peace (reconciliation) that passes all understanding. Those without His peace perform war and horror and carnage. It is nothing new. It only upsets us because it is fresh.

Yet in Christ there are three words:

Reconciliation:

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens…. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. … ll this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:5, 11, 18-19).

Peace

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27)

Joy

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (Romans 2:12)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Atlantic: What ISIS Really Wants

As Challies said, “as we were transfixed by the horror of the Paris terror attacks last night, what is there to do but mourn the depravity of man. Denny Burk asks us to consider praying Psalm 10.”

Arise Lord! Break the arm of the wicked man!

encouragement, japan earthquake, paris, sin, wicked

Paris terror attack, Japan earthquake

Posted on November 14, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

At this time Japan is recovering from a 7.0 earthquake at its southern end and Paris is aswarm with sirens and police as multiple apparent ISIS attacks are being carried out. Many are dead and the city is in chaos and lockdown. Days like these, especially coming at the end of a long, draining workweek when emotional levels are at low reserve, make for a trying evening of tears and prayer to the Lord. It’s always hard when many go home not to meet their maker but to be separated from their maker as chaff and goats. Nevertheless, God’s word refuels and restores equilibrium. Peace will reign again in a heart heavy with grief for the world.

Paris attacks kill dozens in deadly night of terror

Japan earthquake; small tsunami triggered

I read about the terrorist attack and the earthquake and I’m trying to process so much sin in the world. It is very upsetting. I prayed a while then decided to do what comes naturally- take a nap and become unconscious to the world for a bit.

Afterwards, I decided to do my bible reading and opened to the next chapter in Genesis which I’m going through, chapter 24 was next. I prayed and asked the Lord to comfort me in His word. Privately I wondered how a chapter in ancient Genesis would be able to be applied to my mind in comfort to the Paris attacks. But I trusted the Lord to do it.

It was about Abraham’s servant Eliezer being charged by Abraham to go to his homeland to get a bride for Isaac. And Eliezer met Rebekah at the well and Eliezer worshiped the LORD and Rebekah agreed to become Isaac’s bride. It was really beautiful how the providential ordination of events played out. It was a comfort to read how God is SOOO in control, since time immemorial to now, even with the seeming chaos of the current attacks and natural disasters.

The great thing about God’s word is that no matter what you read, the Holy Spirit has a way of energizing our mind with it and comforting our heart. The Word IS living and active and it’s a miracle how He can use God’s word in any situation to instruct, comfort, rebuke, or convict, even using Rebekah’s meeting of Eliezer at the well with camels to comfort this ole lady in Comer GA about a Paris in chaos and Japan under tsunami threat!

Landon Chapman at Entreating Favor wrote the following and it’s good. Please be comforted by it. For the ultimate comfort and re-fueling, pray and read your Bible. It really does help.

When the darkness of the world surrounds us, we need to be the light (Matt 5:14, Eph 5:8). Consider the stars which, during the day, remain in the sky but since there is so much light you cannot see them. However, at night, the stars shine brightly able only to be seen because of the blackness around them. Brethren, be the light for the dark, unbelieving world at all times, and especially in times of great tragedy and crisis.

Terrorism continues to grow throughout the world. We will be faced with times of tragedy and crisis. When your unbelieving friends and family come to you seeking answers, don’t be me 14 years ago. Rather, be prepared to comfort, warn, and share the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ with them.

But the wicked are like the tossing sea, For it cannot be quiet, And its waters toss up refuse and mud. (Isaiah 57:20 NASB)