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The Secret Place Awaits
The world rushes toward darkness. God sent us, His ambassadors of light, here to bring radical change, a reversal of the doom. Piercing through the veil of space and time, Jesus came to show another way, a way of peace. Peace that overcomes our enemies, with a way of reconciliation, bringing the wayward home to the Father of Lights. The lights are hanging out for all to see, but do we see? Does the world see the lights?
Now, we see the economy fade and falter. We shall have no God but the one true God, not mammon. Money is a tool for increasing Kingdom ways, not man’s self interest and greed. Have we been wise stewards? Greed is a form of pride. Impatience is a form of immaturity. God’s love is ever patient always pointing to restoration. There is still time and much grace abounds, for now. God’s economy knows no lack or shortage of that which is holy. Heaven only knows multiplication and addition, light casting out dark.
God is waiting for us to discover on our own that He is more than enough, way, way more than enough. His love can take the five loaves and two fishes and feed the five thousand. He wants us to desire intimacy with Him over material distractions or friends with money. We hear the masses crying for help and support but we miss hearing God saying, “Come up here.” We miss the shofar preparing the warriors for battle as in Isaiah 2, “Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord and He will teach us His ways.” Jesus ‘bailed us out’ on the cross, once and for all.
His rest is beyond the anxiety and fretfulness. His rest gives rest, truly. We have to stop and breathe awhile to hear His heartbeat. We have to take charge of our thoughts to slow the rambling wants and ‘rabbit trails’ in the battle field of the mind, like a little child running from this ‘shiny’ passion to that ‘glittering’ passion, forgetting His passion, which is to win the lost. His passion, perhaps even higher, is to know Him and be known by Him. We do this when we run and play with the Lover of our Soul in the fields of forgotten worries. “Dance, dance, dance, My child, for I am with you, now and forever, dance,” the Spirit implores. He never stops saying, “Come up here.” He is a delight and He delights in you.
He loves to surprise us and we often find while we are “away with our beloved” that He is working behind the scenes on our earthly needs, and when we come back from the secret place, we say, “Whoa!” His mercy endures forever. While we were swept away in that intimate bliss with the King, He brought clarity and resolution to our dilemma. Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Faith’s Payoff
The Payoff After Faith
One recent move of God that we experienced in CMM, Christ's Mandate for Missions, (http://cmmissions.net) and for a missionary couple in India.
Jai and Yori are strong and fruitful in the Lord and have been facing persecution for some time in Eastern India in AP, Andrha Pradesh, near the Orissa state where more publicized persecution had occurred in August and September. They are pastors and have an orphanage. The Hindu landlord has been wanting them to move and giving them a hard time. They found a piece of land a few months ago and put a deposit on it. They missed one deadline. Jai wrote to me to help raise the funds to pay off the land for the orphanage. We made several appeals on our website and by email and some small amounts came in, but not enough. They faced a final deadline by Oct. 29th. They faced losing their original deposit and having no place to go at the same time.
The 27th of October I sent out another email to some folks. I encouraged Jai, that by faith, the money would come in. He had written me a sincere email and I replied for him to send that same email to the few Americans he knew from before the time he joined CMM, (which was about six months earlier). During that six months we had gotten to know each other more and he was very open to building a strong relationship. We are assisting him in getting his Master's degree and eventually starting a CMM School in his area.
I knew I would be sending the money to Jai from the CMM reserve account, but did not tell Jai that. I wanted his faith to be engaged even further, and mine too. I went to the bank and sent him the money so he would have it. There is a 10.5 hour time difference and the 29th there is really like the 28th here, especially for business hours. I did not want him to miss the deadline. By faith, I sent that money from the CMM reserves believing that God would bring it in from somewhere. Many had been praying for weeks.
Within one hour after I sent the money I got a phone call from one of Jai's friends, who had received the email from Jai, and he asked about the dire situation and asked several questions. I told him I had sent the money from reserves by faith. I told him I am planning to go there in January and my job, one among many things, is to inspect and verify the legal taking of the land and proper recording of the deed, etc. and I had spoken with Jai about the legal necessities, deed recording, the land being named in his ministries name, etc. and this caller felt relieved and said he would pay half the amount owing. We rejoiced together. God is awesome!
We still had the half to see come in. I kept praying and believing God was going to do it. He is the God who does it.
The next day, a pastor from Albany NY, who knew Jai's wife, Yori, when she was in school here in the US, called, and asked about CMM. I shared some background and some testimonies of faith. He told me the night before he had seen Jai's email and prayed and felt God was speaking to him to invest in this orphanage. He asked the Lord to make it clear to his wife also. The next day, when he shared how God spoke to him about this. She agreed. I explained how I had sent the funds by faith from the reserve fund. He said they would cover the other half to replace the CMM reserve funds. God is amazing! I know these orphans are precious to God and His will is to see them come into the Kingdom.
About 6-7 weeks previously I was in an OSJ meeting with Rick Joyner and I remember Rick talking about Prince Nicholas in Greece and how he and some friends support over 100 orphanages in India and I have been thinking "Why not!" God is the God of the impossible and I know God loves India very much and has connected us with some wonderful, fruitful friends there. With God all things are possible.
The Lord had told me about ten years ago in Guatemala that "if He could show me how to buy 100 houses that He could also show me how to build 100 churches around the world". We are in process, by faith, toward that goal also.
blessings,
Jorge
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Oh, How God Loves Us!
I put a link to a picture to illustrate the grain offerings at the altar in a CMMP Church in Laoag City, Philippines. Note the many onions:0) The principle here is sowing and reaping. God’s ways are for our good. Is He getting our attention with hurricanes? He alone is able to be our source in life. When we are blessed for generations in this country we can fall into a trap of thinking that somehow we are the cause of our prosperity.
God’s desire is to bless His people but we are not to forget Him and all His benefits. It is not ironic that seven years after 9/11 we suffer one hurricane after another and the biggest drops in our economy since the Great Depression. What is He saying? The spiritual warfare these days is the most intense in history. God is about to do something that we have never seen in our lifetimes. The enemy of our soul knows this. We must not back down, give up, or desire to go back to Egypt. We are seeing historic events unfold daily. My wife and are sowing extra these days because of the times we are in. CMM Missionaries around the globe need your investment more than ever.
In Haiti, our friends are eating mud because of the devastation of the four hurricanes in four weeks.
In India, churches and homes of people we know are being burned and today I got an email telling of 400 nuns being paraded naked by radical hindus.
In the the southeast US we have long gas lines and even in Charlotte we have people sleeping in cars overnight in hopes of getting gas, not knowing when there will be gas.
The biggest bank in US history, WAMU, was seized last night by the Feds and taken over. A bailout of $700 billion is proposed if they can agree. That amount of money would rebuild every town and city’s infrastructure in the US. Some say that what is needed is 2 trillion. Turn to the Lord and ask for His mercy for our economy. Speak faith and hope into our government. We must rally for faith and cry out for God’s mercy for this mess.
We have had decades of increasing prosperity, incomes, standards of living and more. What did we do with it? Did we honor God with our tithes and offerings? Many did.
His word says, “owe no man anything.” I have been guilty in the past of living on debt. Did we cross the line as a nation in becoming too dependent on debt? I would say yes. God chastens those He loves. Did He bring the hurricanes? Did He cause the financial crisis? No, but nothing happens without His knowledge. The life of Job comes to mind. His word does say also in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
He is our hope, strength, and our source of life, and the abundant life, that He sent His son Jesus to give us. We are in a time of great harvest. We, His people, must be strong in these days as those who don’t know Him, question what is happening and the meaning of the crises we are in.
It is time to die to self, love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and love our neighbor as our self. “As sin abounds, grace does abound more.” While lawlessness spreads and the end of the Book swirls around us, we have never had a better time to enter into His glory. More souls are coming into the Kingdom everyday than ever before. Some say more Christians are alive on earth today than have lived before us in all of history. We truly are in mind boggling times, bringing to mind the words, “beyond any thing we can think or imagine.” We are in those days. We must be in the Word daily. We need to hear God for ourselves by waiting and making time for Him daily. He is speaking. Are we listening?
The fields are white unto Harvest. Lift Jesus higher. If He is lifted up, He will draw all men unto Him. Share Jesus and share the love of the heart of the Father. People need you. God needs you to show His love, not criticism, nor false judgements, but pointing people to the Kingdom and the miraculous ways God loves us. We are prepared for this. We are ready for this. We may not enjoy it, but our relationship with the Lord calls us to be obedient, even unto death, for His glory and for building up His kingdom. Go forth warrior of the Lord. Be strong and of good courage.
We, as Christians, have access to the Throne of God, by the blood of Jesus Christ. As we believe the way God desires us to believe we walk into a whole new realm of understanding, seeing greater glimpses of His glory. Jesus said, “Go. Heal the sick....” He did not say to ask God to please heal the sick. God’s will is to heal and that everyone would be saved, set free from all oppression, and walk, “as Jesus walked”.
Robin McMillan, the senior pastor at Morningstar Fellowship Church in Fort Mill, SC said recently that Jesus came to earth not to show us how God lived, but to show us how we could live: full of love, with a servant’s heart, and of the Spirit of God, with power. The Kingdom of Heaven is within you. We have been given an amazing authority to heal the sick.
Is God the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow? What do you think? We are seeing more and more that healing comes, sometimes by laying on of hands by leaders, but more and more by laying on of hands by ‘everyday people’. youth, lay people, congregational members, even little children, when they are free to worship, free to pray for others, and encouraged to step out in faith, acknowledging who they are in Christ Jesus, have been used by God to bring supernatural healing to many.
I encourage you as pastors, to train, equip, and release those in your congregations to rise up, wake up, and take your place as a truly obedient ‘Acts’ church, where leaders and lay people alike are healing the sick and seeing all manner of the supernatural essence of the Lord manifested in our very presence.
Of course, everything must be done decently and in order, but do not hold the saints down. You will see more growth, more giving, more healings when you encourage the Body of believers to exercise their faith and be bold. Remember, you are not God, but you are an authorized representative, an ambassador, sent from Heaven, with a mission, as Jesus tells us in John 17.
Do you want your church to be a true Apostolic church? Do you want to walk in the fullness of joy in the Lord Jesus? If so, then do not place yourself higher than anyone in your congregation. Tell your children and adults there is the same Holy Spirit, for young and old. There is not a big Holy Spirit for adults and a little Holy Spirit for children. It is the same Holy Spirit, the Comforter, that Jesus sent to be our Helper. Let the Lord, your helper, help you in building your congregation to be mature, faith-filled, and walking in unity. Humble yourself. Your mastery of the Word is given you for the purpose you can shepherd your people into power, exercising faith, healing, with sound minds, bodies, and sound emotions, for equipping of the Saints (Eph. 4-11) You are to shepherd the Body from ‘milk to meat’.
Enjoy God with your people. Have fun! Laugh! If you mess up, share how only Jesus is perfect. Man will always let you down, but Jesus will never let you down. Don’t pretend to be something you are not. God gives grace to the humble, and resists the proud. Experience God in all His wonderful joy, love, and power. You know the scripture that says, “the joy of the Lord is our strength.” Do you want to be stronger? Then, exercise your joy, by faith, and release the joy to your people. Life is not easy. But, Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Do not carry burdens that only Jesus can carry.
Equip your people to hear the voice of God for themselves. This is the rock Jesus spoke of when Peter heard the Father’s heart, that Jesus is the Christ. “Be still and know that I am God.” You must learn to listen to God more and more. Wait for Him to speak to you. Know His voice. His word is our wonderful gift and treasure. Knowing Him intimately is also a great treasure. The sheep know His voice. Do you know His voice? He speaks to most of us more than we know. Wait, wait, on Him daily.
Help your church members experience the fullness of God by experiencing the Joy of the Lord. God is not in heaven wringing His hands over the events of the world. He sent you to be an overcomer to enjoy the rewards as shown in the book of Revelations. Each of the seven churches John wrote were given what their reward would be if they over come. We over come by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. It’s time to wake up, grow up, and grow stronger in the Lord and release His joy to more and more people. The world is starving for this truth and this joy, particularly in these times of increasing lawlessness.
Enjoy God to the fullest extent you can.You can have all of God you want. How much do you want? Then, go and share that passion with your people and watch a revolution in God come to your church, ministry, or your business and most of all, watch that revolution come to your heart. That is revival. It starts in your own heart. May your fire and flame never die.
Blessings,
Jorge Parrott
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