“We should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9). The apostle Paul wrote those words when he had hit rock bottom. He was saying, in essence, “The Lord brought me to the end of all human help. It was a place so hopeless that only the God of resurrection power could rescue me!”
After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, they hid from God when they heard him walking in the garden in the cool of the day (see Genesis 3:8). And after David sinned with the wife of one of his chief warriors and then arranged for the man to be killed in battle so he could marry that same woman, we see David retreat into himself. He refused to go to battle and hid in the palace instead. He had lost all his fight and was afraid to have to face God with unconfessed sin.
One of the ministries most needed in the Church today is that of consolation — comforting others in their time of trouble and affliction. Many believers simply do not know where to turn when they hurt.
“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). Many of us have heard the expression “walk in the Spirit” all our lives, but what does it really mean? I believe it means incredible, clear direction and unclouded decisions. The Holy Spirit provides absolute, clearly detailed instructions to those who walk in Him.
The famous parable of the sower is about patience. Not patience toward people but patience toward God. You remember Jesus talking about the seed, right? Some fell by the wayside; some fell on the rock; some fell among thorns . . . and others fell on good ground. Let’s look at Jesus’ explanation.
In the past, Christians have thought of deliverance mainly as physical, but soon people will find out that they are to be delivered from fear and dread. When that time comes, deliverance will mean “having a sure word from heaven.” When awful things begin happening, people will be anxious to know what God is going to do next. They will turn in all directions, wanting to hear the voice of someone who is calm, peaceful, stable. They will cry, “Is this God’s judgment? When is it going to end?”
Something very powerful is going on in the world today. God is doing a hidden, quiet work, something so supernatural that it is beyond human comprehension. He is preparing a small but powerful army that is going to be the most dedicated on the face of the earth. The Lord is going to close out the ages with a pure, devoted, fearless remnant.
All my life I heard stories of our godly forebears, men and women who spent hours, even days, in fasting and prayer. They knew God’s voice and they had the power to successfully stand up against evil in their day.
If you think you are too ordinary to be used by God, listen carefully: God is not going to do his last-days work through big-name evangelists or pastors. They alone will not be able to handle the great moving of his Spirit. God is going to need every homemaker, teenager, elderly person and all who love him to carry out his mighty work.
This end-time army is going to be made up of Christians who have been weaned from “bread alone.” God said through Moses, “Man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3).
A man once told me, “After I give ten percent of my income to God, I do whatever I please with the rest. And I expect God to bless me as he promised — because I tithed.”
My experience has shown that if a person is grudging with his giving, he will also be grudging with his time, his energy and his work for the Lord. But I want to tell you, if you are stingy with God, he will be stingy with you. By that, I mean that you are cutting yourself off from God’s blessing by your actions and your attitude.
The words you speak reflect what is in your heart! “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34).
Whenever I said something naughty as a child, my mother washed out my mouth with soap. But it wasn’t my mouth that needed cleansing, it was my heart. You see, your tongue speaks only what is in your heart. Jesus said that loose, careless, evil talk can come only from an evil, unclean heart.