Agreement With God

Amos 3:3  Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

A few years ago I had an experience where I saw a vague picture of the back of a person that I believed to be the Lord Jesus.  I heard, “Come, walk with Me.”  Then I saw myself step up beside the person and put my hand in His.  At that moment I heard, “How can two walk together, except they be agreed?”  With that I found myself on the floor with my face planted in the carpet repenting concerning the many ways I was not in agreement or alignment with Jesus. I really thought I had been doing ok with God, but I was soon well aware that it was the little things that were out of agreement or alignment with God.  It is the little foxes that spoil the vine.   

Song of Solomon 2:15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

The dictionary defines agreement as harmony of opinion, action, or character.  Alignment is defined as the proper positioning or state of adjustment of parts in relation to each other.   

FOREVERNESS

At times I have been impressed and touched by the "foreverness" of God and my relationship with Him.  Some time ago I woke up one morning with a joy in my heart in relation to being with my God, Savior, and King FOREVER.  I will get to worship Him forever and ever and ever.  I will get to experience His love and glory forever and ever.  Forever is beyond the ability of my mind to comprehend.  Yet the thought of being with Him forever stirs my heart.  I will be with the one who loves me unconditionally forever.  Hallelujah!!!

Revelation 1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 4:9-11 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, ¹⁰ The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, ¹¹ Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.   ­­­­­

Revelation 5:13-14 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. ¹⁴ And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

The Coming Harvest

There is a coming harvest in the days ahead.  I have shared previously about seeing a huge field of grain that went as far as you could see.  God told me we would need new updated equipment for this harvest.  

 http://thentheharvest.blogspot.com/2015/09/new-equipment-for-harvest.html

There will be a need for all hands on deck for the coming harvest.  I think of when the nets were so full that the fisherman had to call for help from boats nearby.  (Luke 5:5-7)  They needed to work together. I don’t believe that was the first time they worked together to bring the nets in. Now is the time to learn to work together within ministries and between ministries. Now is the time of preparation. We need to learn to work together as one body.  It is not about our individual ministries and who can out do who.  There is no place for competition.  It is time for a unified work in which only Jesus gets the glory for what is accomplished.  For it is really His work and we are co-laborers with Him to bring in His harvest. 

Recently I have been thinking quite a bit about a dream a friend of mine had about 20 years ago as we prayed for revival.  She saw this huge wave come in and drop a very large amount of fish on the shore.  The sad part was that the fish just laid on the shore and rotted.  There was no one to do anything with them.  The Lord was telling us that we needed to prepare for the harvest of smelly fish that would be coming in. We needed to be ready to minister to the needs of the vast harvest that would be coming.

Some may say, “Yes, we have been praying and believing for a harvest for many years and decades, and where is it??” A few years back I was asking God about the coming harvest and the fact that it has often seemed like we were on the edge of something and then it receded.   God caused me to know that it was like when the tide is coming in each wave comes up a little further on the shore until the full tide comes in.  I believe we will soon see the full tide come in and we need to be ready. Actually, I think the waves that have been coming in were for the purpose of preparing us, if we would embrace what the Lord brought in with that wave. 

We must continue to look to God and prepare for the coming harvest. We must patiently and diligently continue to seek God.  God is looking for prepared people in prepared storehouses to receive the coming harvest.  Will you submit to the preparation of the Lord in order to receive the coming harvest?  

(I share about this at the beginning of this video.)

The Next Step

Recently while attending a meeting at a House of Prayer, I saw a vision of a set of about 4 or 5 steps and someone was standing on the top one.  There was a sense that there should be more steps because the destination the person was headed for was higher.  But the steps were not in view.  As the person stood there the next step appeared and they stepped up onto it. Then the person waited and another step appeared.

The Lord was saying to them corporately and to each of us individually that as we ascend into the fullness of what God has for us, sometimes the next step is not in view.  We need to stand and wait for the Lord to put the next step in place.  Then we step up and wait for the next until we enter into the fullness of His promise.

Often the wait for the next step can be difficult.  It can test our faith and our patience.  Sometimes we may even try to find another way to get to the destination.  The destination generally being a promise from God or a vision that God has given for our lives or ministry.  We need to be careful not to produce an Ishmael.

Abraham entered into His promise by faith and patience, although he did produce an Ishmael on the way.

Prayer:

We call forth the faith and patience to wait for the next step. We call for eyes to clearly see the next step and the courage to take the next step as we progress higher and higher into the fullness of God’s plans and purposes for our lives.

Hebrews 6:12 & 15  so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. ….And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. ⁶ In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Psalm 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Response To The News

As I read the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, one thing I find  interesting is the responses to the news about the birth of the King of the Jews, the long-awaited Messiah.

The shepherds received the news from the angel and went with “haste” to find the Messiah. (Luke 2:15-16) My guess is that it wasn’t exactly an easy task with all the people in Bethlehem because of the taxation.  As we know the only place for Joseph and Mary to stay was in a stable.  All other accommodations were full.  But the shepherds searched until they found the baby that the angel told them about. They were told they would find the baby in a manger, but I would guess there were more than a few mangers in stables in Bethlehem.  After they found the baby they shared the good news.  The lowly shepherds were the first to be informed and the first to spread the good news concerning the Messiah being born.  They returned to their sheep “glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen.”  (Luke 2:20)

Then there is the Magi that evidently traveled a long distance because they saw the star that indicated to them that this King of the Jews had been born.  (By the way, there were not just three kings/Magi.  We don’t really know how many there were.  And they probably had a large entourage with them. Something about their entrance in to Jerusalem was noticeable enough to get the attention of King Herod and the people of Jerusalem.)  These men had persisted in their search for the King and came bearing precious gifts fit for a King.  Once they found the baby King Jesus, they gave Him gifts and worshiped Him.

King Herod was troubled by the news of a king of the Jews being born.  It was seen by him as a threat to his political position.  He chose to let the Magi do the work of finding for him so he could kill the new born king.  Herod pretended to want to go worship the new born king.  The Magi heeded the warning of the angel of the Lord and did not return to Herod to tell him exactly where the baby was.  But Herod still sought to kill the child that he thought may be a threat to his political position.

King Herod had contacted the religious leaders of the Jews to find out what they knew about where their King was to be born.  They told him what the Scriptures said, but there is no indication that they even had any interest in going to find this King, their long-awaited Messiah. 

I would hope that my response to the news of the birth of King Jesus would be one of immediately going to search Him out and worship Him, as the shepherds did. Or that my response to the indication of the birth of this great King would be one of persistence, traveling whatever distance I needed to in order to find and worship this great King with gifts. 

I would hope my response would not be one of seeking to destroy the King to protect my position  or of lack of interest as seems to be the case with the political and religious leaders of the day. 

(Luke 2:8-20; Matthew 2:1-18)

Love Of God

We serve an awesome God.  His love is so vast I believe it will take all of eternity to begin to plumb the depths of it.  The love of God has substance to it. It has length, and breadth, and depth and height.  It is something we can send our roots down into and have as a foundation in our lives.  It is something that cannot be known with our minds.  It is beyond being known by mental assent.  It can only be known by experience, by experiencing God Himself. God is love. 

It is only as we daily experience the love of God and really allow it to impact the depths of our being, that we can really love others.  All love really originates in God.

We can only truly love others with the measure of the love of God that we have experienced ourselves.  We cannot give away something we do not have.  Love gives.  God so loved that He gave His only begotten son. 

These are a few of my thoughts today about the love of God. 

Ephesians 3:16-21 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; ¹⁷ That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; ¹⁹ And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. ²⁰ Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, ²¹ Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

A PREPARED BRIDE

Revelation 19:7-8 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. ⁸ And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Ephesians 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; ²⁶ That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷ That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Jesus is returning for a prepared bride.  He is coming for a bride that has allowed herself to be cleansed and purified.  Jesus is coming for a bride that is without spot or wrinkle.  The preparation is done by the bride in submission to God. She has made herself or allowed herself to be made ready. The preparation isn't always easy.  To remove spots may take a little scrubbing.  To remove wrinkles generally takes heat and pressure.  But the end result is glorious. 

This bride will be prepared in relationship with God mostly in the secret place.  She will continually grow in intimacy, out of which ministry in the earth will be done in union with Christ to establish His kingdom on the earth.

He said be ye holy for I am holy.  This is not something that the bride can do by works, it comes by surrender, daily surrender and dying to self.

Jesus is looking for a bride of the same heart and substance as Him.  She will be one with whom He can share His heart, one through whom His glory will be manifest, one through whom He can live and move and have His being.