'Crazy Dow', I want to be him . .

Battling Unbelief

or Embracing Belief


Questions, Questions, too many Questions:

Is it ok to have doubts? What if experience tells me different?

Questions, Some Answers and Do We Need all the Answers?

James 1 5-19 talks of a man doubting, a double minded man. Do you ever feel like that, I know I do! For example, I feel 100% better from Asthma, I have more energy since being prayed for at the Salford IHOP meetings. And I hardly ever sleep in the day anymore! I had a comprehensive lung function test which showed up completely normal. And yet I doubt! I tell myself that all the medicine I had been stuffing down had suddenly, by some strange coincidence started working and that I have not needed it since? Well at least occasionally I have that thought. And yet God began my healing on the Monday night while I was largely in a state of unbelief! Then completed the work Wednesday night when I had more belief ( a young guy who said he was inexperienced with this kind of thing came out of the audience and prayed for me) I rarely doubt my salvation or the concept of salvation, how come I doubt healing? And what about all the poor people in the crowd not healed that night? And why wasn't I healed before, in fact, I have sought healing from asthma on a number of occasions, publicly and privately over 13 Years!

. All the above by Andy Harper via Video

Some Answers ?

Some commentators say James is talking about a person that decides to be double minded, rather than a person who has doubts then decides to use these questions to discover more about God, ie to go deeper - "It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out." So the very nature of God vs our nature means things are concealed! And the real fun is searching these things out, 'Kings', means me and you by the way. Wise men still seek out Jesus http://bible.us/Prov25.2.ESV

My kids tend to have an unquestioning belief that I love them and will always do my best for them. As they grow older they begin to see that I am not Super Human, however, our Heavenly Father is Super Godly and changes not! So let's begin with our belief that, 'God is good to me all the time'. People will dispute this and your own thoughts will sometimes too. 1 Peter 4 19 is often quoted, "Therefore, those who are ill-treated and suffer in accordance with God’s will must do right and commit their souls [in charge as a deposit] to the One Who created [them] and will never fail [them]. (amplified version). Does this verse actually mean what the message it suggests however? ie it's God's will we suffer. Let's look at the message version: "So if you find life difficult because you’re doing what God said, take it in stride. Trust him. He knows what he’s doing, and he’ll keep on doing it. He’ll Promote You at the Right Time" Life often is difficult, we know that, but, it is not God's will (His will was expressed in the garden of Eden before we all became wrong doers). Now we know that Christ suffered and that He accepted this as God's will - God's will that the world be restored and redeemed, not that Christ suffer for the sake of it. We suffer persecution because as the bible says, we then share in Christ's suffering, ie, we participate with Christ in God's purpose of redeeming and restoring individuals. Do we get it yet ? "GOD IS GOOD TO US ALL THE TIME". Listen to what the Holy Spirit tells your heart and then use your head to (sometimes eventually) work out why your heart said, 'God is always good to me'. (It's sometimes good to start with the head and teach the heart, how often do we start with the heart and try to confirm or otherwise with our head?)

Do We Need all the Answers?

What if even in heaven we do not have all the answers, what if for all eternity we are discovering more and more about God? Do you remember when you were struggling to make a decision on whether to become a Christian or not and you had all these questions? What if God had given you all the answers, how much would it have helped? Wasn't it your questions pushing you along as well as God's Holy Spirit convicting you that eventually made you say yes? (ie awakening your conscience, nudging your sleepy soul: how sleepy are you right now by the way? Awaken!)



Lorenzo Dow, who I just read about this last week, click on the picture below to find out more about this amazing man from the 19th century or google him:

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Prayer

Dear Lord

I just thank you that when doubts come we can use these as a trigger to find out more about you and draw closer to you. Thank you it's ok to say 'God I don't know the answer to this', and even, 'I don't know the answer and it's making me hurt and angry'. Help us to search you out at these critical times. Help us to submit to you being the boss and knowing what's best for us. May we also help and encourage others, strengthen them at times like these and be there for them

Amen





Andy





Andy Harper

http://andyharper.blogspot.com/

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Voice of God part 1

Hearing the Voice of God
and having our ears tickled !

Distinguishing God's Voice - keeping out the clutter
Isaiah 30:21

"Do you like having your ears tickled or do you like to tickle other people’s ears?

How can we hear and recognise the voice of God? ( Four Keys to Hearing God's Voice - very good practical help)

Well, one way is that the Holy Spirit stirs our spirit as it were, you, ‘feel’, something is the right thing to do or say. After many experiences you more easily recognise this process, I guess. You begin to distinguish the supernatural from your own feelings – which can sometimes be based on fear or insecurity, eg you want to say something to somebody because you think they will like to hear that and they will like you better for you having said it. You want to ‘tickle’ their ears – like it says in the bible somewhere, people like to have their ears tickled!

Something happened to me and my friends about twelve or more years ago. We met regularly to pray and for some months one thing kept coming up for someone, a problem at work. In fact it was a person causing a lot of grief with their behaviour, which was embroiling our friend, dragging him in and causing a great deal of distress. This person was also senior to our friend. Just at the end of one time of prayer, immediately after we had finished, I felt a sort of shiver, what I now recognise as the ‘Holy Spirit on me’ and I blurted out, “this problem will be resolved very shortly, within two weeks” (ie before we next came to pray together). Afterward I was less sure and expressed this . .now I might be a bit more confident . . Within two weeks this individual had died, my friend was very upset and so was I, so I asked my Dad about this. My Dad reassured me that our prayer hadn't caused this individual's death, rather, God was eager to let us know that He had heard our prayers and that He cared.
In our heads we hear our own voice which is easy to recognise. How many of us know though, that when we hear a voice that says, 'you're no good' or something equally negative - thats the evil one! If you spend a quiet time and ask God to speak, you may begin with practise begin to hear another voice. I bet you anything the first thing He says to you is, 'don't be afarid, I love you'! You can then learn to distinguish between these three voices. Also try this: Write a letter to God, really tell Him how you feel. Then write a letter back from God to you. Try to write as yuor feelings flow, rather using your head too much, if you know what I mean.

Smith follows Holy Spirit's Voice
Smith Wigglesworth Sermon, Australia, Published in Latter Rain Evangel p. 19-24 February 1923

It is a great thing to know that God is loosing you from the world, loosing you from a thousand things. You must seek to have the mind of God on all things. If you don’t, you will stop His working. I had to learn that as I was on the water en route to Australia. We stopped at a place called Aden, where they were selling all kinds of ware. Among other things were some beautiful rugs and ostrich feathers in great quantities. There was a gentleman in “first class” who wanted feathers. He bought one lot and the next lot put up was too big; he did not want so many. He said to me, “Will you join me?” I knew I did not want feathers for I had no room or use for them and wouldn’t know what to do with them if I got them. However, he pleaded with me to join him. I perceived it was the Spirit as clearly as anything and I said, “Yes, I will.” So the feathers were knocked down for fifteen dollars. Then I found the man had no money on him. He had plenty in his cabin. I perceived it was the Spirit again, so it fell to my lot to pay for the feathers. He said to me, “I will get the money and give it to one of the stewards.” I replied: “No, that is not business. I am known all over the ship. You seek me out.”
The man came and brought the money. I said, “God wants me to talk to you. Now sit down.” So he sat down and in ten minutes’ time the whole of his life was unhinged, unravelled, broken up, so broken that like a big baby he wept and cried for salvation. It was “feathers” that did it. But you know we shall never know the mind of God till we learn to know the voice of God. The striking thing about Moses is that it took him forty years to learn human wisdom, forty years to know his helplessness, and forty years to live in the power of God. One hundred and twenty years it took to teach that man, and sometimes it seems to me it will take many years to bring us just where we can tell the voice of God, the leadings of God, and all His will concerning us.

Prayer

Dear Lord

You love us and want us to hear your gentle voice speaking to us. You don't want to leave us without hearing our Father's voice guiding, encouraging and speaking your love language into our hearts. Sometimes we are just too rushed and self absorbed to hear from you. Quiet us, we pray. Open our hearts, remove our fears, come in Lord, Come in.
 
Amen
 
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Voice of God Part 2

Hearing the Voice of God

God's Voice - brings life to the church and you and me!

Reproduced from here

Rick Joyner:

He is Releasing a Double Portion of Prophetic Revelation. Many things bring life to a church, such as great preaching, prayer, worship, and fellowship. However, three things seem to bring the most life to the Church—hearing from God, miracles, and new Believers. In our local church, we have been blessed by an increase in each of these, which has come in waves. It seems that we may be in the first stages of yet another wave, which is creating a lot of excitement. A few weeks ago, I was also given a promise from the Lord—He said He is going to release a double portion of prophetic revelation to us.

Since then, we have begun to experience a fresh and powerful anointing on the prophetic gifts. For this reason, I will be sharing a lot this coming year on the prophetic gifts. We will also be devoting much more of The MorningStar E-Journal to the prophetic revelation that is coming forth. We also will be teaching on knowing the Lord's voice and sharing what He is saying to His people that we discern to be His word.

Hearing From God

In its most basic form, prophetic revelation is simply hearing from God. As we are told in John 10, His sheep know His voice, and they follow Him because they know His voice. Knowing the voice of God has always been basic for walking with God. Even under the Old Testament, we read repeatedly that the people were exhorted to obey the commandments and heed His voice. Here are just three of them, which contain some remarkable promises:

And He said, "If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer." Exodus 15:26

Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation... Exodus 19:5-6

However, there shall be no poor among you, since the LORD will surely bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, if only you listen obediently to the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today. For the LORD your God will bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you. Deuteronomy 15:4-6

As we now have a New Covenant that is "a better covenant" (see Hebrews 7:22), we are no longer under the law, and we have even better promises, but the ones listed above are also promises in the New Covenant. The Lord is still our Healer and has given gifts of healing to His Church. We also have the New Covenant calling to be His Kingdom of priests and a holy nation. We also see in this last verse that obeying the Lord and heeding His voice resulted in there not being any poor among them—this is fundamental to eradicating systemic poverty.

If we are hearing the voice of the Lord more it is because we are getting closer to Him. This should be our main devotion even more than getting prophetic revelation, but that does not mean that we do not seek His voice. In I Corinthians 14:1, we are commanded to "Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy."

Often I have heard preachers say that we should not seek the gifts but the Giver, which may sound more noble and wise, but is actually contrary to the Scriptures, as we see in this verse. The truth is that a basic way that we seek the Lord is by seeking to hear from Him. Communication is the basis of every relationship. Few things will draw us closer to the Lord than hearing from Him. We also seek the Lord by seeking all of His gifts. These gifts are not toys but tools for doing His work.

Drawing Us Twice as Close

A second promise that I received is that this year He is going to draw His Church twice as close to Him as we have ever been. The way I saw this was that some may get only 10 percent closer, some may even backslide, but others will get many times closer so that the net result will be His entire Church getting twice as close to Him as we have ever been. The implications of this will be great. How much impact could the Church have on this world if she were twice as close to the Lord as she is now?

As we might find typical in Scripture and history, we can expect the enemy to be increasing his work during this time, too. We are in the time of Isaiah 60:1-5. While darkness is covering the earth, and even "deep darkness the people," the glory of the Lord will be manifested on His people. We are entering the time of the ultimate clash between light and darkness, but as we also see in this text—the light wins! The nations do not turn to the darkness but to the light.

Another rising wave of the Spirit is happening now. Ultimately it will be an irresistible tsunami, recapturing backsliders and multitudes of the heathen in its path. The Lord speaking to His people will be a catalyst for this.

Today you can get a head start on this great year by seeking Him, asking for more prophetic dreams, visions, and prophesy, and being faithful to what He speaks to you.

Rick Joyner

MorningStar Ministries

Email: info@morningstarministries.org

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Prayer


Dear Lord


When we hear of the exciting things going on around the world in your church, like miracles, healings and new believers, we just so much want that for our church and our lives!


Please help us to be pursuers of you! God Chasers. Help us to throw off all that would hinder, our own selfish concerns, for example. We know that you care for every little detail in our lives so help us to fix our eyes on the things that are on your heart! Like helping and caring for each other and those around us that don't know you. As we begin to seek out your voice give us the courage to be doers and not hearers only! We want to lay our hands on the sick and they recover, we want to tell people the kingdom of God is near. Give us boldness! Give us courage Lord, chase us down, capture our hearts with your love, so we can capture lost hearts with your love too Lord


Amen

Uncertainty and the Secret Place

Living in The Secret Place

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" Psalm 91 v1
I have read of, 'the secret place', and heard it mentioned a number of times over the last few years and wondered what it meant. I assumed at first that this was a room you went to and locked yourself in to pray for a few hours. It sounded a dull activity, since I rarely prayed for longer than fifteen minutes at a time! However, whenever the secret place was mentioned there was an air of excitement, mystery, specialness as it were.

By the way if anyone has any ideas or questions about, 'the secret place', reply to me and I'll publish them . .
I knew that Daniel and Nehimiah retreated daily to spend long times with God and this preceded the unfolding of an amazing story in their lives. I'm told Yongi Cho spent (and still does spend) hours in prayer everyday and this led to his significnt part in the South Korean revival. In the early part of the last century William J Seymour spent three hours a day in prayer which he then increased to seven, just prior to the Asouza Street revival. Were these times dry or were they intimate, joyous times with God? Are these times only achievable by very unusual individuals, tremendously disciplined, for example? Or is it possible that we can enter into a secret place of intimacy with our Father, just enjoying being with Him and acting out our relationship with Him, just Him and us, unninterupted? These lives were certainly marked by a submission to God, and complete reliance on Him and nothing/nobody else. So what kind of certainty do we want in our lives?
Certainty is the mark of the common sense life - gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means we're uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow brings. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises.
Taken from ‘My Utmost for His Highest’ by Oswald Chambers

How to be certain of God? And how to know we are in His presence and under His protection? In the absence of knowing how to do this and how we can be reassured we are doing this, we will tend to rely solely on ourselves and others only. Thus leaving God out of the picture and us out of a fuller life of God given purpose and security.
And do we have to worry about keeping ourselves in that 'secret place' ?

Not according to Smith Wigglesworth! (to learn more about Smith Wigglesworth click on picture of Smith Wigglesworth or go to http://www.smithwigglesworth.com/)

"Can we keep ourselves there? GOD can keep us there.
He never forgets to keep me,
He never forgets to keep me
My Father has many dear children;
But He never forgets to keep me.
Has He forgotten to keep you? Nay! He cannot forget. God has much in store for you; you are far from being out of His thoughts"

Smith Wigglesworth, 1921 sermon,
http://www.nemontel.net/~word1/secret_place.htm
on Psalm 91 or the Message version of Psalm 91
"Abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Don't change your position, but always have the presence of God, the glory of God. Pay any price to abide under that covering, for the secret of victory is to abide where the Victor abides."
Are we willing to pay any price? Or do the comforts we believe we already have mean too much to us to let go of? These comforts are not rock solid anyway, as we see all around us people losing their jobs, their secuirty, their health . . isn't it better that we cast everything we have on Jesus and trust Him and Him alone? Our Father will not let us down!

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Lets Pray

Thank you Lord that you do keep us under the wings of your protection even when we don't know it and we are not seeking it

Help us to actively seek your presence so as to fully enjoy what you have for us. Even though we may feel uncertain help us to know that you are a God of certainty.

Along the way you have many surprises for us, opportunities to fulfill the potential you destined for us before we were born! Give us the courage, born from your loving parenthood, to grab these with both hands!
In Jesus name!

Shining and a Great Black Blob

Shining with His Glory

Catching the train in freezing cold weather and with a chesty cough, probably caught from Mia our youngest, I certainly did not feel like I was manifesting the glory of God to those around me! More like a load of cold germs and a pretty grumpy face huddled in amongst coat, scarf and hat!

Look around at the covering of snow, that’s a picture of God’s goodness dropping on us, covering everything!

So . . lines from a song:
Beauty for ashes
Joy for mourning
Praise for heaviness
I am for glory
I was made for you glory!

Subscribe and watch/listen to this fantastic worship for free! here


1 To the Chief Musician. On Stringed Instruments. A Psalm. A Song. God be merciful to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us, Selah
Psalm 67:1
What would His face look like? What would our faces look like with His face shining upon us? As we consider His many blessings upon us, the great things He has done, our faces begin to shine, reflecting the goodness of God to those around us – OR – As we consider all the things it appears God has not done then our faces will tell a different story . . . Turn, face your Father, receive His good will toward you and your face will shine!
8 The earth shook; The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God;
Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel
9 You, O God, sent a plentiful rain,
Whereby You confirmed Your inheritance, when it was weary.
10 Your congregation dwelt in it;
You, O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor.
Psalm 68:8-10



The actual heavens dropped to the earth or dropped rain . . the earth reacted because heaven arrived, as it were. Why? Because God wanted to confirm His inheritance. The people He had rescued, His inheritance, a people that had become His! Yes a people who once were not His people, but now are! That’s you and me, once lost, now belonging to Him, our Father! So when we are weary, when we have given up hope he ‘confirms us’ by dropping rain. By dropping on us heavenly blessings . . a taste of what is coming when we get to heaven, a full measure of what is to come! Now! That is, we ‘dwell in it’. Verse 10, ‘Your congregation dwelt in it’
Each of us has a place that no one else can fit! Living stones ‘fit together’, bonded in love. Born for good works, significant, adopted and put where we are destined to be. We are born for significance! We are made for His glory. We are filled with it, it emanates from us, we are His glory!



8 Let my mouth be filled with Your praise
And with Your glory all the day.
Psalm 71:8



11 May you abound in and be filled with the fruits of righteousness (of right standing with God and right doing) which come through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One), to the honor and praise of God [that His glory may be both manifested and recognized]. Amplified version
Philippians 1:11

God’s glory manifested and recognised, in and through us!
A Prayer

Dear Father

Though we may not always be aware of it, help us to know that as we go about our daily business we are, ‘manifesting’. May we have such a thirst for you and the food and drink you provide, that it would be you that we would be manifesting all day long. So much so that people around us will wonder, what is that? What is it they have got? And when they find out, Lord, we pray they will want you too!

Amen



What a great, wonderful, loving, accepting, bountifully giving, always forgiving, restoring, redeeming, healing Father we have! Woooooohoooooooooooo!!!

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This Great Black Blob

Is there anyone close to your heart that you have prayed for to come to Jesus? It could be a brother or a sister, a son or a daughter, a husband, wife or partner, maybe a friend, work colleague or neighbour? What if Jesus said to you, ‘I’ll set you a challenge, if you can do this one thing, then that person will come to me and be saved’. Would you do it? Suppose it was climbing a mountain or running a marathon or walking fifty miles. Would you do it? I guess most of us would if we were desperate enough to see that person saved. Now suppose the challenge was this: I want you to stand up in church and publically confess that (pick one of the following) a) You have not spoken to person x for years and you make sure to avoid them, because you can’t forgive them, they have hurt/offended you somehow in the past. b) There is someone you judge as lesser than yourself in some way and you make sure to avoid them if at all possible. c) You are angry at someone in the church, you avoid them. d) You are jealous of someone, when you see them, you secretly hope things are going bad for them. One day things do go bad for them and you are secretly glad. e) Someone seems like they need caring for in some way, it looks awkward, you avoid them and you won’t let God put that person on your heart.

What if God clearly said to you, ‘make this public confession and that person on your heart will be saved!’ I know what you are thinking, how can there possibly be a connection between my not speaking to/avoiding a person and my friend/family member/work colleague coming to the Lord – I just don’t believe it! Or I just won’t believe it? There is a connection and a very strong one . . .

While trying to sleep I had a feeling when thinking of our church that something was trying to hide. That ‘something’ was something I needed to fight. I heard the Lord speak to me and He said, ‘you must go at this hard, over and over again, until you defeat it’. I could not get hold of what it was that I was so supposed to go at, fight as it were, though I had a very strong feeling I must do so. I felt a very strong physical sensation at the same time, very hard to explain. I began to get a picture of a black sort of blobby substance that was about five to seven feet in the air and it hovered over us all. I imagined running at it with a knife in my hand trying to pierce it, I ran at it over and over again, imagining that if I pierced it I could make all it’s badness drain and wash away. Finally, exasperated, I asked the Lord what this thing was. He told me it was the feelings of people toward other people. These feelings included jealousy, anger, unforgiveness (for hurts and perceived hurts), bitterness toward people, judgement of people, viewing certain people as lesser and treating them so or avoiding them as unimportant, meanness toward people and lack of real care for others.

This great black blob hung over us all, so much so we had sometimes to give it a shove upwards in order to talk to or see other people.

This great black blob was what was hindering revival in our church. Once this thing began to be substantially dealt with, revival would begin.

Afterward I was reminded of the Welsh revival, a feature of which was the public confession of sins. People who had not spoken for years stood in church to publicly confess their bitterness or anger toward someone. When people heard of these public confessions and reconciliations it brought them into the revival . . so think on! (The Welsh revival saw 100,000 converts in 1904 alone!)

When you think of that person you want saved, think! Do I have a person in church that I am having a wrong attitude toward?

We need to ask ourselves: Is this collective unconfessed sin in our church stopping more people coming to Christ? Even stopping revival?

Bless you, in Jesus name

Andy Harper