If you're serious about your walk with God, then you want to get to know your heavenly father. And so you may study his majesty, his power, his glory. But do you know your Lord's human face?
You may wonder what I mean by this. After all, we know God is spirit and that he's invisible to us. Scripture states plainly, "No man hath seen God at any time..." (John 1:18). So, how can God have a human face?
"I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out [turned out] rather unto the furtherance of the gospel" (Philippians 1:12).
In this verse, Paul tells the Christians in Philippi not to worry about all the things they'd heard had befallen him. And those "things" included great afflictions and infirmities!
I believe Solomon represents the spirit and nature of the modern, last-day Laodicean church. And this church — here in America and throughout the world — is headed for the same ruin Solomon faced!
Scripture tells us:
"And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly...." (2 Chronicles 1:1).
In recent weeks the Holy Spirit has been leading me to pray for a greater understanding of God's love to me. After reading 1 John 4:16, I realized how very little I knew about living and walking in God's love. John wrote in his epistle: "We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him."
Proclamation of a National Fast Day. August 12, 1861.
Whereas a joint committee of both houses of Congress has waited on the President of the United States and requested him to "recommend a day of public prayer, humiliation, and fasting, to be observed by the people of the United States with religious solemnities, and the offering of fervent supplications to Almighty God for the safety and welfare of these States, his blessings on their arms, and a speedy restoration of peace":
Ask any Christian, "Do you love Jesus?" and he will answer, "Absolutely yes!" But words alone will not stand in the holy light of His Word, for Jesus Himself said two distinct things will reveal our love for Him. If these two evidences are not being revealed in your life, then your love for Jesus is in word alone — not in deed and in truth. These two evidences are: (1) your obedience to Jesus' every command and (2) a manifestation of His presence in your life.
"And the Lord was with Judah; and he drove out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron" (Judges 1:19). "But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong" (Joshua 17:18).
Satan himself acknowledges that God has a protective hedge all around the righteous and that the hedge protects not only themselves but all that they have — including their descendants.
When seeking to tear Job down, Satan complained to God, "Hast thou not made a hedge around him, and his house, and all that he has on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land" (Job 1:10).
"And there shall be famines, and troubles, and these are the beginning of sorrows…" (Mark 13:8).
There is a terrible famine raging in the land today. It's not a food famine. In fact, the United States has been producing such an overabundance of food the government is currently devising a number of incentives for farmers to take some of their land out of production.
Resurrection from the dead is the "ultimate healing." I tried to share that glorious truth with the grieving parents of a five-year-old boy who had died just hours before of leukemia. They had begged God for the healing of their dear child. The whole church prayed earnestly. Friends had prophesied: "He will not die; he will be healed." One week prior to the little boy's death, the heartbroken father picked the fevered child up in his arms and walked him around the room. "God, I'll not give him up. Your promises are true. My faith has never faltered.
