Inspired Word March 15, 2006

INSPIRED WORD

MARCH 15, 2006

SCRIPTURE / SHARING

In the Book of Genesis (1:1-3), it says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth. Now the earth was a formless void and darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. And then God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light.” But what struck me in this verse is that when God arrived on the scene, it was in darkness. It also occurred to me that if Jesus was standing here right now, just about every single one of us would have the sense of being sinners and feeling very dirty. When we talk about being in the desert place, I would just like to ask, brothers and sisters, is there the possibility that when God seems furtherest away, that He may, in fact, be the very closest to us?

SCRIPTURE / SHARING / EXHORTATION

.....and when I was in the desert many, many times, I hung on to this verse. It was from Jeremiah 29:11 and many of you know it by heart, but sometimes just ask the Lord for new revelation of His Word and His Promises. He says, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. Yes, I will be found by you and I will bring you back from captivity.” Tonight I just want to encourage some of you who are just really struggling. I have been there, but I don't pretend to know your struggle, but the Lord does know it. I used to say to some friends at times “I am holding on to the Lord by His toes.” And yet sometimes I forgot that the Lord had me in the palm of His hand. I was the apple of His eye. It didn't matter if it was the good times or those desert times, it would bring me flat on the ground before Him. He wants to encourage you; He wants you to know that He does have plans for you that are awesome! Sometimes you have to go through these valleys and these deserts, and as uncomfortable as they are, you begin to have a history with the Lord as He brings you out of them. As He comes in, as I like to say it, at the eleventh hour, the 59 th minute, but remember, there is still 60 seconds left. God never disappoints! It may not be or look the way you want it to be, but our God is Love and He is full of surprises. He loves to delight us! How much do we delight in giving our spouse, or children, or grandchildren something? That is what God does for us. In the darkness, He does bring light, and He does bring hope. I, myself, have learned to praise Him and to thank Him when I am in those dark places. I too have learned that His love carries me and enfolds me; His grace brings me through. I know that He has this plan for me and that I have to walk through this valley, this desert, but He is with me; He is ever watching over me, and you, no matter where you are. Even if you feel as if you are hanging onto the Lord by His toes, He has you in the palm of His hand. I came across a prayer; I don't know where, but I wrote it down. It says, “Be with me, Lord, for another day and use me as You will for the sake of Christ I pray; O God, for another day, for another morning, for another hour, for another minute, for another chance to live and serve You; I am truly grateful! This day free me from all my fears of the future, from my anxieties about tomorrow, from my cowardice in the face of danger, from all failure of every opportunity, from all weakness when Your power is always at hand. But, Lord, fill me with the love that knows no barriers, with sympathy that reaches to all, with courage that cannot be shaken, with faith strong enough for the darkness, with strength sufficient for my tasks, with loyalty to the kingdom's goal, with wisdom to meet life's complexities, and with power to lift me to You.”

No matter where you find yourself, He is doing just that. He deserves your praise in all things. It is His time and His way, not ours. Let Him be God in your life!

SCRIPTURE / PRAYER

Solomon 8:5: “Who is this coming up from the desert, leaning upon her lover?” So we come before You, to lean into You. Lord, we love You!

SCRIPTURE / PRAYER

Psalm 84:5-7: “Happy are those who dwell in Your temple. They never cease to praise You. Happy are those whose strength comes from You, who are eager to make the pilgrimage to Mount Zion. As they pass through the dry valley of Baca, it becomes a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They grow stronger as they go; they will see the God of gods in Zion.” Lord God, as we lean on You, You take us and You lead us through those places. Your Spirit of refreshment bubbles up in them and we become stronger as we go. Our hearts yearn for You, and they seek You; we lean on You and You give us strength. O Jesus, O Jesus, O Jesus here present! O Jesus, we love You! O Jesus, we place our hand in Yours; O Jesus, You walk with us and give us strength! O Jesus, You refresh us! O Jesus, You bring joy to those songs. O Jesus, Jesus, You are our Hope and our Salvation! Jesus, You are our strong Fortress! Jesus, Jesus, our Deliverer! Jesus, our firm Foundation! Jesus, we love You!

SCRIPTURE

Psalm 31:1-9, 19-25: In You, Lord, I seek refuge; never let me be disgraced. In Your righteousness deliver me. Turn Your ear to me; make haste to rescue me! Be a sheltering rock for me, a strong fortress to save me. You are my rock and my fortress; for Your name's sake, lead me and guide me. Free me from the net they have set for me, for You are my refuge. Into Your hands I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, Lord, faithful God. You Who have seen my wretchedness and known the miseries of my soul, have not handed me over to the enemy. You have given my feet space to spare. Take pity on me, Lord, I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. How great is Your goodness, Lord, stored up for those who fear You, bestowed on those who take shelter in You for all mankind to see. Safe in Your Presence You hide them far from the scheming enemies. Inside Your tent You shelter them far from the war of tongues. Blessed be the Lord, Who has shown me wondrous love, and been for me a city most secure. In my alarm I said, “I have been cut off from Your sight!” Yet You heard my cry for mercy when I called to You for help. Love the Lord, all you faithful. The Lord preserves the faithful, but repays the arrogant in full. Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.

SCRIPTURE / EXHORTATION

Psalm 29:1-11: (I just need to read this as the Psalms are so rich.) “Pay tribute to the Lord, you sons of God, tribute to the Lord of glory and power. Pay tribute to the Lord of the glory of His name; worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness. The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over the mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon leap like a calf. The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lords shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord twists the oaks, and strips the forest bare; and in His temple, all cry, “Glory!” The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever. The Lord gives strength to His people! The Lord blesses His people with peace.” The God of power, the God of might is with you in the desert. He is journeying with you! Don't forget His power; give glory to God! Those of you who have been through the desert, be with your brothers and sisters who are journeying through it. Praise the Lord! Lift up His Name! Give Him glory; He is there! Take refuge in Him, for He is your Strength! He is the Mighty God; He is the One Who saves! Your shelter is in the Lord! Your refuge is the Lord! The Lord will not disappoint. Glory and praise to God now and forever!!

SCRIPTURE

1 Peter 5: 6-10: “So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God and in His good time He will honor you. Give all your worries and cares to the Lord because He cares about what happens to you. Be careful and watch out for the attacks from the devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. Take a firm stand against him and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of sufferings. In His kindness, God called you to His eternal glory by means of Jesus Christ; and after you have suffered a little while, He will strengthen you, support you, restore you; He will place you on a firm foundation. All power is His forever and ever.” Then there is another I wanted to share, then I will go and sit down. Psalm 34:18-20: “The Lord hears His people when they call to Him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous face many trials, but the Lord rescues them from each and every one.”

CONFIRMATION / SCRIPTURE / EXHORTATION

I would just like to confirm that Psalm 34. It was one that was on my heart too. The Lord placed it upon my heart, that humbly we need to claim His authority (not with arrogance, I am not saying that at all). In John 14:12, He says, “Greater things you will do than this. You will do the same things as Me, and greater things than Me.” Why? Because I send My Holy Spirit among you; I send My Spirit to you. My Father and I come to live in you. God, Who created everything, lives in your heart. He has humbled Himself to come in the form of Bread and Wine on that altar to nurture us, to strengthen us and He says, “I want you to claim My authority. I want you to claim space around you; space to stand firm.” My good little Italian Mama taught me to call upon Saint Michael because the Lord empowers him. He doesn't have any power except through the Lord. But the Lord empowers him. Call on the angels, and say, “I want some space.” And call on His warrior angel to fence around you and call on His Blood that He shed on Your behalf and you say, “Wash me with the Precious Blood of Jesus and send your warrior angels to fence around me. Send Saint Michael, the archangel, to defend me from the enemy.” In those trials and deserts, it is hard to pray. If you have been in a desert and you are not in one now, the Lord is calling you; calling you to intercede on behalf of those in the desert. Your prayer time isn't just for you, it is to go out there and say, “I don't know who needs it tonight, Lord, but somebody does. I don't know who needs it right at this moment; I don't know who is crushed in spirit; I don't know who is going through depression; I don't know who is struggling with illness, but I claim Your mighty power, Lord Jesus, because You shed Your Blood for me and for all mankind.” I know that power is there. I know that strength is there. I know that salvation is there. I know that shelter and refuge is there, but sometimes you can be so broken in spirit that you can't feel it. We are supposed to be the manifestation of God's light for one another. Sometimes God needs to work through us, so that people can feel the love, the tenderness, the compassion and strength of Jesus Christ. Let them know that it is there through you, through your prayers. You might never see the people whom you have helped, but trust God in heaven. Claim His authority in Christ! Ask for the power of the angels and saints to be with you; and the martyrs who also had their blood shed because of their faith in Jesus, the Rock of our salvation, our Shelter, our Refuge and our Strength. Step out boldly and claim it; He needs all of us to fight the good fight, and we are all here for a reason. It is not an accident that we are gathered here together. We are a force, not by ourselves, but we are united together in the Name that is above all names, and that is Jesus Christ, the Lord!

CONFIRMATION / EXHORTATION

I want to confirm that. We are a body and we are called to hold one another up. You don't know what a person's needs are; you don't know who is crying out; you don't know if a person is battling with something. All you know is that the Spirit of God is prompting you to pray. We need to honor that prompting. So tonight, if you are in need of someone to hold you up, I ask you to stand up and let other people gather around you and pray for you. There is power in all of us coming together, and praying and loving on each other like that.

MESSAGE IN TONGUES

INTERPRETATION

My people, My lovely ones, I have called you here tonight, so that you might be before Me; that you might feel My power; that you might feel My rescue. I have seen your fears; I have seen your tears, and I want you to know that it was for these that I died. But I have arisen, My people, and I am here to place My hand upon you right now and to heal you, to take away your pain, and to bring you closer to Me. I love you, My people! I ask for your love in return!

SCRIPTURE / PRAYER

Isaiah 35:3-4,10: “Strengthen the feeble and say to those with palpitating hearts, 'Take courage, fear not, behold your God will come with vengeance. The recompense of God will come and He will save you.' The ransom to the Lord will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads and He will find gladness and joy and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” Lord, we thank You! This is a place that we can come into right now in Your Presence, the place, Lord, where we can set our hearts on You. We step into Your faithfulness; we step into Your goodness; we step into Your mercy; we step into Your grace. We thank You that we can say like David, “We would have despaired unless we could have believed in the goodness of the Lord and the land of the living.” So we thank You, Lord, that it is Your goodness that is here and now. We love you, Lord! We can't get enough of You, Lord!

CONFIRMATION

I want to confirm that word. All night long I have been hearing the word which is in the Hebrew language; the word that is used for the mercy of God. It is a mercy that we cannot know except by being touched by God. It is the mercy by which He finds us in that desert place. He shows us that great, great mercy. When we are thirsty, we don't even care because He brings us that mercy to make us feel not so thirsty. Tonight He said, “I have been walking among you; you have felt a touch of My great mercy. Know that I am the Lord, your God, Who loves you, Who meets you in every place you go. I put this mercy into your hearts, that you may touch others with My mercy. For My mercy is not like the world's mercy, it is not justice, but it is mercy for mercy's sake. For love's sake alone, let that rest in your heart and touch those you meet.”

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