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Friday, April 24, 2009

RE: "The Best Is Yet To Come'

I repent.  Father, help me and my brother Woody, too.

From: Sforest@aol.com [mailto:Sforest@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, April 24, 2009 1:42 PM
To: sherwoodbarnett.apfd@blogger.com
Subject: "The Best Is Yet To Come'

"But I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.  Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you." (Philippians 1:23, 24)
 
On December 9, 1740, David Brainard, a missionary among the American Indians, wrote in his diary: "Oh! one hour with God infinitely exceeds all the pleasures and delights of this lower world."  He was found dead in his tent, on his knees, at the age of 29.  He was now in the "Higher World."  For Brainard, "the best was yet to come."  Two centuries later, Sinatra sang a song by that title, but it was just full of self indulgence.  In our text, Paul also says that the "best is yet to come"------ "to depart and be with Christ, which is far better."  And His next statement, "Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you," was no ego statement as so many have thought.  It was the attitude of a true servant, serving while waiting for the, "far better."
 
Here is the problem.  So much "burn out," so much discouragement which overwhelms Believers today is the direct result of a life driven by the, "needful for you," rather than the, "far better."  A suggestion--- Let everything you do be motivated by the reality that some day you will "depart to be with Christ," rather than some day you'll be another famous preacher, or another Beth Moore, or have a bigger church, or get more  "opportunities to minister," or, well, you know those "needful" trappings of religion.  This is the way I saw my Dad live as a pastor, and Grandfather live 
as a railroad engineer, and both later as retirees.  They were the best soul winners I ever knew, "needful for you," people, but always driven by the, "far better."
   
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to be a, "needful for you," servant, motivated by the, "far better"--------- You, in Your Son, Jesus.  Amen.
********************************************
* Real News of a Prophetic Nature:    www.antipasprayerforce.blogspot.com
* I will be attending the Dinner with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Sunday evening, May 3.
 
 
 
"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

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"The Best Is Yet To Come'

"But I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.  Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you." (Philippians 1:23, 24)
 
On December 9, 1740, David Brainard, a missionary among the American Indians, wrote in his diary: "Oh! one hour with God infinitely exceeds all the pleasures and delights of this lower world."  He was found dead in his tent, on his knees, at the age of 29.  He was now in the "Higher World."  For Brainard, "the best was yet to come."  Two centuries later, Sinatra sang a song by that title, but it was just full of self indulgence.  In our text, Paul also says that the "best is yet to come"------ "to depart and be with Christ, which is far better."  And His next statement, "Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you," was no ego statement as so many have thought.  It was the attitude of a true servant, serving while waiting for the, "far better."
 
Here is the problem.  So much "burn out," so much discouragement which overwhelms Believers today is the direct result of a life driven by the, "needful for you," rather than the, "far better."  A suggestion--- Let everything you do be motivated by the reality that some day you will "depart to be with Christ," rather than some day you'll be another famous preacher, or another Beth Moore, or have a bigger church, or get more  "opportunities to minister," or, well, you know those "needful" trappings of religion.  This is the way I saw my Dad live as a pastor, and Grandfather live 
as a railroad engineer, and both later as retirees.  They were the best soul winners I ever knew, "needful for you," people, but always driven by the, "far better."
   
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to be a, "needful for you," servant, motivated by the, "far better"--------- You, in Your Son, Jesus.  Amen.
********************************************
* Real News of a Prophetic Nature:    www.antipasprayerforce.blogspot.com
* I will be attending the Dinner with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Sunday evening, May 3.
 
 
 
"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

The Average US Credit Score is 692. See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps!
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Thursday, April 23, 2009

"Comfort of The Holy Spirit-Comfort of the Scriptures"-All Else Is Nonsense

"If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up; you will remove iniquity far from your tents." (Job 22:23)
 
Our text is the words of Eliphaz, the Temanite.  Job's friends said some "good" things, but apparently "good things" are not enough.  At the conclusion of the Book of Job, God says to Eliphaz, "My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me right, as My servant Job."  Some people don't understand suffering because they have never suffered.  This was exactly the case with Job's "miserable comforters are you all."  They were like many religious people today, on the mountain top, bouncy charismatics, flippantly spouting super spiritual cliches, even quoting the Bible, but had never been where Job was.  They could only conclude that something was just plain wrong in Job's life.
 
Job's friends had the same problem which many have today.  They had not been "there," so, of course, could only reason "there."  If you have "been there," you carry something which those who have not will never be able to understand.  The whole Book of Job reveals that the four counselors had never tasted deep suffering, and because of that, they could only "minister" to Job a series of rebukes and condemnations. 
 
I heard Derek Prince once say that a man should not be ordained an elder until he had suffered.  I wonder--- should he even open his mouth?  The "God-Breathed" Word says of our Forerunner, "But we see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for every one." 
 
What have you "tasted for everyone?"  
 
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to pass on what I have "tasted."  Amen.
****************************************************
*    I am preaching this weekend in the CCE meetings
*    Don't miss insightful articles:    www.antipasprayerforce.blogspot.com
*    Please pray for the November mission and the DC event.  
 
 
"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

"When I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong"

"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake.  For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10)
 
Some who used to receive my devotionals no longer do.  Some have asked to be taken off, others just put them on "spam" or some other elimination site.  I understand.  My attempt to deal with reality is just not some people's "cup of tea."  But can I say that facing life as it is, not as I want it to be, has helped me to endure through some dark periods in life.  When I stood at the grave of Stephen, that was not what I wanted from life.  All the people we had prayed for and were healed were not there, but somehow they "stood" there that day and mocked me.  We discovered his sickness less than two months after Andrew was born.  When Andrew was born, I was delighted.  I had two boys, playing catch, throwing the football, scouts, any dad knows what I mean.  Stephen had a love for Jesus.  Even when he could barely walk after the surgery, he went once with me to the hospital to visit a man in our congregation.  He was not allowed to go upstairs to see the man, but said, "That's okay; I'll be alright here."  When I came down, he said to me, and these were his exact words, "I was praising the Lord for that man."  When I asked why, he responded, "The Lord healed him." 
 
39 years have come and gone and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of him.  When I would be studying for exams or doing a term paper and he wanted me to play with him, he would just stand around waiting until I was finished.  He would follow me around the church building while I would be praying.  At just four years of age he once said to me, "I was praying like that the other day."  If this depresses you, please forgive me.  It is my testimony.  It has enabled me to say with Paul, "when I am weak, then I am strong."  There is a power of faith, a confidence in Jesus Christ I have now that I did not have before those "infirmities" and "distresses."  The root word for, "infirmities," means, "feebleness, strengthlessness."  The word for, "distresses," means, "narrowness (from obstacles standing close about)."  That describes it perfectly.  Yet I can say that when the walls seem to be closing in on you so that you can hardly breathe, the Breath of God breathes this word, "Then [you are] strong!!" 
 
I heard an East Texas rancher say once that when a powerful storm is approaching, all the animals of the desert flee for cover.  The eagle, however, goes to the highest point, puts his face into the approaching storm and spreads his wings  When the storm hits, that eagle just rises above it.  Our ability to do this is not in our strength, but in our weakness, because what the enemy and the world calls a storm is for the Believer in Jesus the Breath of the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Spirit.  You and I have no strength for the battle.  King Jesus does, because "surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows."  Now, face that storm and spread those wings.
 
Father, in Jesus' Name, I have no strength, no righteousness, no goodness, nothing apart from You, but I thank You so much today that You "supply all my need according to your riches in glory by Christ Jesus."  Amen.
**************************************
*    Be sure to read Pat Buchanan's article on "The Apologists" at:
        www.antipasprayerforce.blogspot.com        
 
 
 
"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

"Our Ideas Of God Are No Greater Than Ourselves" (Chambers)

"There is neither Jew nor Greek (Gentile), there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Gal. 3:28)
 
Most people use our text to emphasize our non prejudiced inclusion in Christ.  But while the Word of God teaches that neither my race nor my gender exclude me from the grace of God, He also teaches that neither do they prioritize me nor excuse my sin.  Neither race, gender, nor Mr. Rogers make us "special."  Only Jesus Christ, by the cleansing of His Blood, and our obedience to His "Law/Word" can do that.
 
Oswald Chambers once said, "Our ideas of God are no greater than ourselves."  There is no truth in man, only in Jesus Christ.  This is why there is so much division and racial/gender prejudice in people who call themselves Christian.  This is why Islam advocates the murder of the "infidel."  This is why there is a church building on every corner in our cities.  It is man's ideas of "The Supreme Being" which rule, and my ideas go no further than the nose on my face.  Enter, Jesus Christ, "God with us," the One in Whom "dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him...."  When we look to Jesus, "by taking heed according to [His] word," His "ideas" rule, not ours. 
 
Non agenda, non racist, non gender, non people-group reading of the "God-Breathed" Word will keep us in Jesus Christ, "the way, the truth, and the life."  Only Jesus can keep us from prejudice, from gender and class warfare, from the disunity brought about by our "ideas of God."  When the Word of God rules in whites, blacks, Latinos, Asians, men, women, rich, poor, Democrat, Republican, then and only then will we be "transformed by the renewing of your mind"---------- "ideas."
      
Father, in Jesus' Name, search my heart moment by moment.  Amen.    
************************************************
*    I am preaching in the CCE meetings this weekend
*    Berlin/Albania Mission, November 1-14
*    See attack on an Israeli at Durban II          www.antipasprayerforce.blogspot.com    
 
  
"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

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Monday, April 20, 2009

I Have Been Declared A Terrorist By The Obama Government

"But there is another urgency before me now.  I feel compelled to go to Jerusalem.  I'm completely in the dark about what will happen when I get there.  I do know that it won't be any picnic, for the Holy Spirit has let me know repeatedly and clearly that there are hard times and imprisonment ahead.  But that matters little.  What matters most to me is to finish what God started: the job the Master Jesus gave me of letting everyone I meet know all about this incredibly extravagant generosity of God." (Acts 20:22-24, "The Message")

When I was detailed for several hours by the KGB at the Leningrad Airport in March of 1987, Sarah was home with the children, Andrew was 17, Shelly almost 12, Jill nearly 9.  What would happen to them?  Was I irresponsible as a husband and father?  Then our text came to me, "....nor do I count my life dear to myself...."  I was fulfilling my assignment.  How could anything be wrong about that?!?  22 years have come and gone since those tense moments, alone, in a small room, but our text still "haunts" me today.  Is Paul's attitude mine, I mean really? 

I have read several articles recently which indicate I am considered a "terrorist" by some members of the Democrat Party and the Obama Department of Homeland Security.  (Read the article put out by the DHS on our Blog: www.antipasprayerforce.blogspot.com)
The following is why I am considered a terrorist by the Government:
     *     I declare that homosexuality is against the Law of God
     *     I declare all people who sneak into the United States to work                and live here without a valid passport, without going through the
          citizenship process, as illegal aliens.
     *     I continually affirm Islam to be a terrorist, violent religion
     *     The Obama Administration sees strong criticism of his                          presidency as racism (This is no joke--- again refer to the                          statement put out by the DHS)
     *     I continually refer to abortion as "the murder of the unborn,"
          thereby declaring abortion as a capital offense
     *     I continually speak of current American policies and world events
          as, "signs of the times," which indicate the imminent return of           Jesus Christ as "the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of
          kings and Lord of lords...."     
The document closes with this ominous statement: "DHS/I&A will be working with its state and local partners over the next several months to ascertain with greater regional specificity the rise in right-wing extremist activity in the United States, with a particular emphasis on the political, economic, and social factors that drive rightwing extremist radicalization."

I have been working with the Church in persecuted lands for over 40 years.  I saw what secular, antichrist governments can do to a people.  I took great risks to serve in those lands, and may even yet have more opportunities to do so.  A person working in the Central Asian Republics of the former Soviet Union has requested a meeting with me when he comes to the States this summer.  This area has been on my heart in recent months, and I constantly monitor the situation of the Believers in Jesus Christ in this region. After the revolutions in Eastern Europe in 1989, the Lord Jesus spoke to my heart, "Don't forget what you have learned."  I have been telling people since those days that the Devil did not go out of business when the Berlin Wall came down on November 9, 1989.  To be honest, however, I did not consider at the time that Christ's word was not only an encouragement, but also a warning-----
even for us in the US.

"What are you prepared to do?"  This question and our text for today keep ringing in my ears and heart.  Today's devotional is for all the "terrorists" serving the Lord Jesus Christ around the world as well as here in the United States of America.  Increasingly, any person who is living obediently to Jesus Christ and His "Law/Word" will be marked as a threat to "national security," not only in Uzbekistan, but also right there at your computer.

Father, in Jesus' Name, You called Your disciples to "come and dine."  Our text bids us to "come and die."  Holy Spirit, keep asking me, "What are you prepared to do?"  Amen.
************************************
*     I am preaching April 25 and 26 in the CCE meetings
*     Please pray for our mission to Berlin and Albania, November 1-14



"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



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