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November 2001
Part Forty-eight
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory (M)
The premier purpose of this website is ever to voice the uncensored Gospel of the Kingdom and we are honored whenever the Lord leads us to incorporate the works of our brothers and sisters for His Glory. Throughout this series, the Spirit has brought to our attention related writings from fellow Kingdom ministries which fully align with and expand this timely and tremendous message! We are pleased to include some offerings from our sister, Jan Antonsen. [See more of her works at: jantonsson@aol.com]
"They that WAIT UPON THE LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as EAGLES!! They shall run
and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint". (Isa 40:31)
A precious friend of mine said recently about her family's situation, "We have nothing! We are flying on God's wings!" Her affirmation touched me to my core and I replied, "That is where we all are." Worldly goods, homes, lands, bank accounts, stocks, bonds, power, prestige- none of these things count for anything when we come into the presence of the Lord as thousands did on September 11th. Those who remain behind must ask themselves, "What is important? What is life really about?" I have heard several say that the events of that day caused them to rethink their lives, to realize the truth spoken by another friend, "Life is not a dress rehearsal, it is all we have!!" Those of us who walk with God know that this life is merely the staging ground for our real life, which is in spirit, in the eternal realms of our Father. Our real life, which is in Christ (Gal 2:20) has neither beginning nor ending. (Rev 21:6; 22:13). It is forged from the heat of His passion and the ground of His being. His everlasting Spirit has been at work in us since before the foundation of the world (2 Tim 1:9-10) and in Him, "We live and move and have our being!" (Acts 17:28) Abraham knew this to a limited degree and early on God told him about what would happen to his descendants: "Then the Lord said to Abram, "Know of a surety that your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years" (Gen 15:13). If he told his children about this, they had forgotten about it, and in any event, going to Egypt was what God had foreordained to save them from starvation when the great famine swept over the land (Gen 41:30,36,54-57, 47:13,20). There they languished in slavery for 430 years (Ex 12:40-41; Gal 3:17). Subjected to the whips of Pharaoh's taskmasters, and the cruel mud pits, they were forced to satisfy the king's incessant need to glorify himself in brick and mortar (Ex. 1:8-14). Into this bleak scene of despair and affliction God sent Moses, the deliverer of that hour for His people. When he met with them, the text says, "And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped." (Ex 4:31) I feel sure there were those present that day who thought, "Great! It's time to get this show on the road! Pack up the donkey, Eli, and let's get the heck out of Dodge." Not so fast, guys! Have you ever noticed that between the time God gives us the Good News and the time we begin to see it manifested in flesh, there usually are some unpleasant things which we have to endure? Sure enough, once Moses and Aaron took the news to Pharaoh that he was to let the people go, their lives quickly went from bad to worse! (Ex 5:2) Right away the king took away the straw they used to make bricks and ordered them to find their own straw but...still...make the same number of bricks! (Ex 5:10-19). What happened next is very predictable. The foremen of the Israelite workers hammered Moses and Aaron, saying, "May the Lord look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us!!" (Ex 5:21) Looking at the circumstances, feeling the lash on their backs, they were upset. Looking at the situation with natural eyes, Moses said, "O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to the Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all!!" (Ex 5:22-23)
Now lest we be too hard on him, have we not been guilty of this very thing? Have we not looked at our own lives, at the bad things which have happened to us, at the times when we didn't get our prayers answered, at the disappointment we feel when we don't get what we want and said, "Well, God, you have not kept your promise to me. It says right here..." and then we gave Him the book, chapter and verse. I have done that a few times in my life. So I understand exactly how Moses felt. It is part of growing up in Spirit, of learning to walk by the Spirit of God, rather than out of our own minds. And please remember, that we have a huge advantage over Moses. We have the indwelling Christ who leads us into all Truth (Jn 1:17, 16:13; I Jn 2:27). Once we calm down, get off our high horse and get down on our knees, we begin to feel the Spirit ministering Life and God's unconditional Love to us. [unquote]
[TO BE CONTINUED]
Notice: this ministry will be in LONDON, ENGLAND the week of Dec 9-16
[except 2 one-day trips to Dublin, Ireland and Paris, France]. Any Kingdom group interested in hosting a meeting must please contact us as soon as possible by email: Sonrise1@aol.com, or telephone: 702-647-2131. Our itinerary is filling up quickly.
[P.S. We are not in need of lodgings as all our accommodations are prearranged.]
Notice: this ministry will be in LONDON, ENGLAND the week of Dec 9-16
[except 2 one-day trips to Dublin, Ireland and Paris, France]. Any Kingdom group interested in hosting a meeting must please contact us as soon as possible by email: Sonrise1@aol.com, or telephone: 702-647-2131. Our itinerary is filling up quickly.
[P.S. We are not in need of lodgings as all our accommodations are prearranged.]
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