Be Careful… It Is Slick Out There!

15 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by eisakouo in How God Creates a Man or Woman He Can Use, Our Spiritual Process, Times of Testing

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abundance, adversity, development of the soul, easy believism, fire, God puts soul in life, God refines us, God tries us, God's presence and breath, James Lane Allen quote, places burdens upon us, Psalms 66, slipping and falling, water

Many of the Psalms are concerned about slipping, falling, and stumbling in our walk with God. Songs in general are good about reminding us of life’s hazards. Psalm 66 reminds us that it is God … “Who keeps us in life, And does not allow our feet to slip.”

The first part of this verse literally means … “God puts the soul in life.” Isn’t this good? It is God who puts soul, zest, meaning, and purpose in life. Without His presence and breath we would never achieve anything. We would end up falling, slipping, and careening into a soulless ditch.

How does the Lord accomplish this? According to the rest of this Psalm, God…

tries us,
refines us,
brings us into a net,
lays oppressive burdens upon us,
causes men to run over our heads,
takes us through fire, and
takes us through water.

Then afterwards, He brings us out into a place of abundance!

I don’t know about you, but I have been guilty of only praying for the abundance part… not for all the other difficulties. I’ve got enough problems without God laying more on my plate. This is one of the issues people do not understand about the Lord, because a type of easy believism has crippled many believers. Many have falsely concluded anything too difficult and hard could not originate from God. This is what the psalmist is communicating. It is the Lord who brings us to these crisis points in life… in order that we might choose Him and come to know Him more intimately. This is God’s process of developing our souls.

Understand, if you are going to pray and believe God for abundance, then get ready because God is interested in something far greater… the development of your soul! In order for you to become all the Lord believes you to be, He just might have some hardships and difficulties waiting for you. He doesn’t want you to slip and fall so God is in the process of preparing your soul ahead of time. Get Ready!

Blessing – From God’s Incubator,

Pastor

How God Creates a Man or Woman He Can Use (Part 4) Their Strength & Voice Is Birthed from the Failures of the Previous Generation(s)

06 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by eisakouo in How God Creates a Man or Woman He Can Use

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black and white, Bodie Thoene, burn the ground, convenient, darkness upon the land, disobedience, Elijah, fifty shades of gray, fire, firefighters, greatest prophets, Old Testament, prophets of the old testament, rare, uncompromising, what is right, wild-fire, word of the Lord

The Bible speaks about how “darkness” can come across the land and how “a word from the Lord” can become rare. When a generation fails to complete the tasks the Lord has for them, the Lord quietly backs out of the picture for a season. In these seasons the word of the Lord becomes rare, and darkness, even deep darkness prevails. I believe the deeper the darkness, the greater the prophetic voice God raises up for the subsequent generations. I also believe God’s man or woman receives strength from the disobedience of his/hers generation. A fire begins to glow within and continues to grow hotter, especially if disobedience and sin prevails.

The greatest prophets of the Old Testament were the ones born and raised in Israel’s darkest hours. It was so bleak and dark in Elijah’s day, he thought he was the only prophet left in the land. No one could hardly convince him otherwise. It didn’t stop him from calling fire down from heaven and praying for the drought to end. My point is this, no matter how dark it gets or how rare God’s word may appear to be… the Lord raises up men and women to be a light in dark places. The darker the night, the greater the light.

Flames surrounded firefighters fighting a forest fire as they backed up a mountain trying to put out the fire. They had nowhere to go. There was fire behind them and only a home and more grass in front of them. A firefighter moved ahead into the grass in front of him, struck a match, and burned the grass between them and the house. Just in time, as the fire he had set went out, he and his cohorts stepped into the already burned grass. The wild-fire blazed around him and the house because it had no fuel to burn and the firefighters were saved.

Today there is wild-fire of sin coming toward our homes and lives. Sin has never been more prevalent than it is today. People can destroy their lives without ever leaving home. The man of God looks around at the enormity of sin and sets out to burn the ground with God’s word. He knows people can only be saved inside God’s camp. God’s word and voice is uncompromising. Life may have fifty shades of “gray” for everyone else, but for the man and woman of God… the Word is just as black and white today as it was when it was written.

Blessings,

Pastor