MOSES TURNED ASIDE

MOSES TURNED ASIDE

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight-why the bush does not burn up. When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And Moses said, ‘Here I am.’” (Exodus 3:1-4)

Sometimes God has to get our attention before he gives us a word of direction for our future. And sometimes He has to put us in a quiet place before he sets a bush on fire to draw our attention.

Moses had heard the word of the Lord forty years earlier that he would be used to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage, but he didn't take the time to wait on God for just how that was to be done. He assumed that all he needed was to know what to do and to immediately go about doing it to the best of his ability. It is not enough to know what God is calling me to do. I must wait on God for his timing, his method, his helpers, and his plan. “He who believes shall not make haste.” (Isaiah 28:16)

Sometimes God only gives us a "one step" command, such as he gave Abraham when he told him to leave his home, his country, and his people and move to a place that he would show him later. But even in that mode, we are totally dependent on God for succeeding steps.

Has God put a word in your heart as to what he wants you to do? Then wait on him to clear the way for you. When Moses heard the voice of God speaking to him from the burning bush, he was not even willing to take the first step to do what he heard God telling him to do. He had to go through a time of prayer and conversation with God about how unqualified he was to take on such a gigantic responsibility! When he was forty years old, he felt he was totally prepared and qualified. Now that he was eighty years old, he knew he did not have what it took to do the job of bringing Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land. In his heart he knew he needed something from God he did not yet have. And God met his need. He gave him a rod of authority that brought the dimension of miracles into his life.

Let God give you, not only the general call, but also the specifics as to how, what, when, who, and where. God will surely put the pieces all together and make it abundantly clear as you wait on him in prayer, faith, and patience. The one thing that Moses did not have when he first tried to deliver the Children of Israel out of bondage was the Rod of God. This time he waited till he was given that rod of power and authority. The rod of God for you and me is the same as it was for Jesus himself. He was not to go one step into his ministry until he had received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. When He comes upon you, you shall receive authority and miracle working power!


Robert & Joni Fitts


Where it all Starts
All fruitfulness flows out of intimacy. Out of the womb of prayer, praise and worship all things in the kingdom of God are conceived, nurtured, and brought to birth to the glory of God and for the good of mankind.

A Declaration of Unity
I belong to everything that belongs to Jesus and everything that belongs to Jesus belongs to me! It's not us and them. It's just us! There's only one Body of Christ, and the problems of the church, the whole church, are our problems, for we are the church and we can do more united than we can do divided! So let's unify, simplify, and multiply!

Divine Appointment Prayer
Father, give me a divine appointment today with someone who is hungry for God, or sick, or in need, and give me grace to minister the love of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.

A Prayer for More Workers and More Miracles
Father, send more laborers into this harvest and grant us boldness to speak your word, by stretching forth your hand to heal and that signs and wonders be done in the name of Jesus.

Winning the War on Terrorism Through Prayer
"Father, give every terrorist in the world an encounter with Jesus like Saul of Tarsus had on the road to Damascus."

LAW, NO! GRACE, YES!
The law demands, demands, demands, but gives me neither feet nor hands.
Now Grace and Truth are better things, they bid me fly and give me wings!

THE BIRTHING PROCESS

THE  BIRTHING  PROCESS
If it has been hard for you to endure the process of giving birth to the vision the Lord has given you, It is a good sign that you are on the right track!
My wife, Joni and I, have given birth to seven children and we now have 19 grandchildren with a new one on the way. One of our grandbabies Joni and I delivered ourselves, with some help from the midwife on her cell phone as she sped toward our house in the early morning hour. We know more than most about the birthing process.
We all know that there is pain associated with childbirth. There is also some pain connected with giving birth to the vision of the Lord. Joni had "morning sickness" for almost the full nine months with all seven of our children, not to mention the labor pains with the coming forth of that new life.
Do not be discouraged if the will of God for you brings suffering. Hold on to the vision. It is the test of your faith that is more precious than gold. You are being shaped into the instrument God will use in bringing this vision into its fullness. The new born babe will surely come forth and you will say, "It was worth all the waiting, the praying, the changing, and the stretching necessary to give birth to the heavenly vision."
Joni and I both feel like we are at the river Jordan and about to enter the Promised Land. We  have been walking across a very long desert that started when we moved from Riverside, CA to San Diego, CA to be closer to the fellowship with which we were connected. It was our first taste of desert life. We were part of the Discipleship Movement which ran aground in a subtle form of legalism.
After withering in the desolation of that dry desert for about five years, we left and gained a measure of release, but we still had more years of "the dark night of the soul" to walk through. I cannot explain the "Why?" of all this, but I am beginning to rejoice that we are seeing the first glimpses of the birth of the vision.
What is the vision? In 1969 while we were on the staff of the Child Evangelism Fellowship Institute in Muskegon, Michigan, the Lord put a prayer in my heart to hold onto until it happened, even if it took years of prayer, faith, and patience to see it come forth. This was the prayer he gave me based on Psalm 2:8, “Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession.” After much meditation on that promise, I began to pray, "Father, give me disciples in every country in the world." I had also read that little prayer that Jabez prayed in I Chronicles 4:9-10, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me , and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” - NIV
I knew that such a vision was humanly impossible to accomplish, but the Lord told me to ask for the nations and I did. I never dreamed it would take more than 35 years of preparation, but as I look around me now and see what the Lord is doing, I am confident that the day is coming soon when I will say, “Thank you, Father, for letting me live to see the birth of the vision! Though the process was long and painful, It was worth it all!"
Jesus said, "When a woman is in travail she has sorrow because her hour has come; but when she is delivered of the child, she no longer remembers the anguish for joy that a child is born into the world." Are you feeling birth pangs? Be encouraged! Look to Jesus and let the baby come forth!
 
 
Robert & Joni Fitts


Where it all Starts
Out of the womb of prayer, praise and worship all things in the kingdom of God are conceived, nurtured, and brought to birth to the glory of God and for the good of mankind.

 A Declaration of Unity
I belong to everything that belongs to Jesus and everything that belongs to Jesus belongs to me! It's not us and them. It's just us! There's only one Body of Christ, and the problems of the church, the whole church, are our problems, for we are the church and we can do more united than we can do divided! So let's unify, simplify, and multiply!
 
Divine Appointment Prayer
Father, give me a divine appointment today with someone who is hungry for God, or sick, or in need, and give me grace to minister the love of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.
 
A Prayer for More Workers and More Miracles
Father, send more laborers into this harvest and grant us boldness to speak your word, by stretching forth your hand to heal and that signs and wonders be done in the name of Jesus. 

Winning the War on Terrorism Through Prayer
"Father, give every terrorist in the world an encounter with Jesus like Saul of Tarsus had on the road to Damascus."

LAW, NO! GRACE, YES!
The law demands, demands, demands, but gives me neither feet nor hands.
Now Grace and Truth are better things, they bid me fly and give me wings!

DON'T DOUBT IN THE DARK

DON’T DOUBT IN THE DARK
 
The ancient mariner used to navigate by "dead reckoning." He had none of the sophisticated electronic instruments that we have today. He would take a directional reading by sighting the sun or the stars through a navigational instrument called a "sextant." If a storm obscured the sky, he would continue to sail by that reading, no matter how long the sky was covered, until he came out into clear skies. Often the storm would be on them for many days or even weeks, but they would continue to sail by the most recent sighting of the sun or stars.
 
Perhaps you are sailing now by "dead reckoning." God has given you a certain word of direction for your life, but now the storm is upon you and you are at the point of wavering. I have a word for you!
   
Don't doubt in the dark what God gave you in the light.
 
The Englishman, William Carey, is called "the father of modern missions." He opened the door to India for the Gospel in the face of overwhelming obstacles at a time when there was little sympathy for his vision. He said, " What has helped me most in life is the fact that I am a plodder. If I know that the project is from God, I just keep on plodding day after day until the job is done . . . no matter what!"
 
It was by doggedly plodding on day after day that Carey was able to translate the entire Bible into one of the Indian languages and thereby making it possible for hundreds of future translations in the languages and dialects in India and other lands. The sufferings and setbacks he endured are almost unimaginable, but he KEPT ON PLODDING! The life of Carey will forever ring out the call to persevere in that which the Lord has called us to do in spite of the hardships, inconveniences, sufferings, and difficulties. When you know the will of God beyond any doubt, keep on going in it in spite of all that Satan can throw against you.
 
God is continually revealing His will and His direction to those who really want to do His will and walk in His ways. He has given the Bible, the church, divinely ordered circumstances and His deep inner peace to keep us from going off track. We can always know two things about the will of God; first, it is always good for us; and, second, it is possible for us to do it by His enabling power. It was a great day in my life as a young Christian when I settled it in my mind that God would never lead me into a situation that I could not handle by His grace.
 
For a long time I wrestled inwardly as I struggled against a full surrender of my life to God. I was only seventeen, I had a girlfriend, and I was afraid that if I yielded myself completely to God he would take her away from me and send me to some dark jungle as a missionary where I would never see her or any of my friends or loved ones again.
 
When I ceased struggling and gave myself unreservedly to Him, I discovered that He had planned the most exciting and fulfilling experiences that I could imagine. I praise Him for being so patient with me!
 
Father, be relentless with me. Keep working with me to draw me into the fullness of your will for my life. You know my heart. I truly desire to do your will! I thank you for being patient with me until I see clearly what you desire for me. Don't give up on me, Jesus, until all your purposes for my life are fully accomplished.
 
Robert & Joni Fitts


Where it all Starts
Out of the womb of prayer, praise and worship all things in the kingdom of God are conceived, nurtured, and brought to birth to the glory of God and for the good of mankind.

 A Declaration of Unity
I belong to everything that belongs to Jesus and everything that belongs to Jesus belongs to me! It's not us and them. It's just us! There's only one Body of Christ, and the problems of the church, the whole church, are our problems, for we are the church and we can do more united than we can do divided! So let's unify, simplify, and multiply!
 
Divine Appointment Prayer
Father, give me a divine appointment today with someone who is hungry for God, or sick, or in need, and give me grace to minister the love of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.
 
A Prayer for More Workers and More Miracles
Father, send more laborers into this harvest and grant us boldness to speak your word, by stretching forth your hand to heal and that signs and wonders be done in the name of Jesus. 

Winning the War on Terrorism Through Prayer
"Father, give every terrorist in the world an encounter with Jesus like Saul of Tarsus had on the road to Damascus."

LAW, NO! GRACE, YES!
The law demands, demands, demands, but gives me neither feet nor hands.
Now Grace and Truth are better things, they bid me fly and give me wings!

WALKING THROUGH YOUR WILDERNESS

WALKING THROUGH YOUR WILDERNESS   

          Have you ever prayed, "Lord, be relentless with me!" and really meant it? The heart burden of that prayer is an intense desire that God will bring to completion all His purposes for your life, no matter what it costs in sacrifice or suffering or discipline. If I honestly pray such a prayer, I may be setting the stage for difficult times ahead. Difficult? Yes! But full of excitement and fruitfulness and fulfillment!

          God will not pamper me, nor will He spare me the pains that are necessary to bring me up to the measure He designed me to fill.

          If God has appointed for you a task of deliverance or leadership, you will, in the process of preparation, walk through a wilderness experience that is a great deal more pronounced and intense than the common ordinary variety of trials that all believers experience.

          Jesus was in the wilderness forty days tempted of the devil, but he came forth from that intense time of testing in the power of the Holy Spirit and began to cast out demons, heal the sick, and bring deliverance to the captives. The word "drove" in Mark 1:12 indicates how important this wilderness experience was. "And immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness." This was no gentle leading. The word carries a burning urgency. Jesus was compelled by the Spirit. It was something Jesus, as a man, could not avoid if He was to fulfill all He was sent to do and to be.

          God gave Abraham a promise of unusual fruitfulness, prosperity, and influence, but between the time of the promise and the time of fulfillment lay a wilderness of 25 years of walking by faith alone with no sign of the promised blessing. This long dry spell was necessary to perfect Abram as the father of those who walk in faith and to help him accept the name Abraham instead of Abram. Abram means "exalted father" but Abraham means "father of a multitude."

          Joseph had to walk through an agonizing wilderness of reproach, resentment, false accusation, slavery, and imprisonment before he was ready to function effectively as the Prime Minister of Egypt and the deliverer of Israel in a time of famine.

          The apostle Paul walked through his wilderness in Arabia before he emerged as a leader among God's people in the early church. If we knew the spiritual biography of every man or woman whom God has greatly used, we'd soon see that they all had something in common. They could all point to a wilderness they had walked through before they came into an experience of abundant usefulness to God and humanity.

          Are you faced with a wilderness experience that you have sought to avoid? Is the Holy Spirit urging you to a course of action that will result in personal growth and development for you and deliverance for those who sit in darkness?

         If we can see the true nature of our wilderness and what God designs for us in it, we will be better able to bear the pain and inconvenience of walking through it. Here are some things to consider about your own personal wilderness:

          First, your wilderness is good for you. The Spirit drives or urges you into your wilderness because it is the will of God for you. And the will of God is always good.

          Second, your wilderness will be uncomfortable. It is a time of fiery trial, testing and discipline. It is said of Jesus that "Although He were a son, yet learned He obedience by the things which he suffered." Down through the ages, men and women of God who have been mightily used of God have gone through the fire and through the flood in some personal way. Praise God for the promise in Isaiah 43:2 that when we to through the floods He will be with us and they will not sweep us away. And when we go through the fire, we will not be burned!

          Third, your wilderness is a time of character building. The apostle Paul said, "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us." Your wilderness will lead you through suffering, hardship, discipline, misunderstandings, and many other unpleasant experiences. But God is building into your inner man steadfastness, patience, wisdom, perseverance, knowledge, and forbearance. God's very likeness and glory will shine forth from you because you have walked with Him through the fire and through the flood.

          Will you now accept and embrace your wilderness and walk patiently through it for the glory of God? If you will walk through it with the praises of God in your heart and on your lips, God will bring you into a large and fruitful place! You will be totally fulfilled for you will see His glory revealed in you and through you to the building and expansion of Christ's Kingdom in the earth.

Robert & Joni Fitts


Where it all Starts
Out of the womb of prayer, praise and worship all things in the kingdom of God are conceived, nurtured, and brought to birth to the glory of God and for the good of mankind.

 A Declaration of Unity
I belong to everything that belongs to Jesus and everything that belongs to Jesus belongs to me! It's not us and them. It's just us! There's only one Body of Christ, and the problems of the church, the whole church, are our problems, for we are the church and we can do more united than we can do divided! So let's unify, simplify, and multiply!
 
Divine Appointment Prayer
Father, give me a divine appointment today with someone who is hungry for God, or sick, or in need, and give me grace to minister the love of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.
 
A Prayer for More Workers and More Miracles
Father, send more laborers into this harvest and grant us boldness to speak your word, by stretching forth your hand to heal and that signs and wonders be done in the name of Jesus. 

Winning the War on Terrorism Through Prayer
"Father, give every terrorist in the world an encounter with Jesus like Saul of Tarsus had on the road to Damascus."

LAW, NO! GRACE, YES!
The law demands, demands, demands, but gives me neither feet nor hands.
Now Grace and Truth are better things, they bid me fly and give me wings!

VISION, VALLEY, FULFILLMENT

   VISION, VALLEY, FULFILLMENT   
 
Everything starts with vision! Somebody, somewhere, saw something and pursued that vision. Now we all see the fulfillment of what they saw because they did not give up while in the valley phase of the process. Before anything is seen with the natural eye, it is first seen with the eye of faith.   
God gives vision. Every great move of God had its beginning in the heart of some child of God intent upon hearing from God and doing his will. It came into the heart of MOSES to deliver the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage. JOSEPH, in his youth, had dreams of being used of God as a deliverer. DAVID was anointed to be king of all Israel when he was just a shepherd boy. ABRAHAM heard the voice of God giving promise of a son through whom a nation would come forth when he and Sarah were too old to have children.   
In all four lives mentioned above there was a fulfillment of the vision, BUT. . . there was a big, long, dark, ugly valley between the vision and the fulfillment. Abraham was in the valley for 25 years before Isaac, the son of promise, arrived. David waited 13 years to see his prophecy fulfilled to be King of Israel. Joseph walked through a 17 year valley before he saw fulfillment, and Moses had endured forty years on the back side of the desert when he experienced the burning bush visitation from God.  
All of these men had a vision as to how God was going to use them in life and they kept that vision alive in their hearts through a long and painful trial of their faith.   
Has God spoken a word of promise to you about how he wants to use you? Have the years come and gone without any sign of fulfillment? Have you been sorely tempted to give it all up as a silly, selfish dream or an "off the wall" prophecy? DON'T GIVE UP TOO SOON! Your might be in the valley right where God has placed you . . . the valley where He prepares the man and purifies the vision.
What do you do while in the valley? Don't doubt in the dark what God gave you in the light. In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. Obey God and know that he is working. He is always on time. He who gave you the vision will also bring the fulfillment when he is through forming you in the valley. 
 
Robert & Joni Fitts


Where it all Starts
Out of the womb of prayer, praise and worship all things in the kingdom of God are conceived, nurtured, and brought to birth to the glory of God and for the good of mankind.

 A Declaration of Unity
I belong to everything that belongs to Jesus and everything that belongs to Jesus belongs to me! It's not us and them. It's just us! There's only one Body of Christ, and the problems of the church, the whole church, are our problems, for we are the church and we can do more united than we can do divided! So let's unify, simplify, and multiply!
 
Divine Appointment Prayer
Father, give me a divine appointment today with someone who is hungry for God, or sick, or in need, and give me grace to minister the love of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.
 
A Prayer for More Workers and More Miracles
Father, send more laborers into this harvest and grant us boldness to speak your word, by stretching forth your hand to heal and that signs and wonders be done in the name of Jesus. 

Winning the War on Terrorism Through Prayer
"Father, give every terrorist in the world an encounter with Jesus like Saul of Tarsus had on the road to Damascus."

Living to Give
Father, make me a generous giver today! Show me where to give, what to give, how much to give, and let all my giving bring glory to the name of Jesus.

LAW, NO! GRACE, YES!
The law demands, demands, demands, but gives me neither feet nor hands.
Now Grace and Truth are better things, they bid me fly and give me wings!

TRUSTING GOD IN THE FACE OF IMPOSSIBILITIES

Trusting God in the Face of Impossibilities
by David Wilkerson
________________________________________
“Being not weak in faith, (Abraham) considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb” (Romans 4:19).
The essence of true faith is found in this single verse. God had just promised Abraham he would have a son, one who would become the seed of many nations. Remarkably, Abraham didn’t flinch at this promise, even though he was well past the age of siring children. Instead, when Abraham received this word from the Lord, we’re told he “considered not his own body now dead (nor)...the deadness of Sarah’s womb.”
To the natural mind, it was impossible for this promise to be fulfilled. But Abraham didn’t dwell on any such impossibility. According to Paul, the patriarch gave no thought to how God would keep his promise. He didn’t reason with God, “But Lord, I have no seed to plant. And Sarah has no life in her womb to conceive. My wife is past the ability to bear children. So, how will you do it, Lord?”
Instead of entertaining such questions, Abraham simply “considered not.” The fact is, when God is at work producing a faith that is tried and better than gold, he first puts a sentence of death on all human resources. He closes the door to all human reasoning, bypassing every means of a rational deliverance. The faith that pleases God is born in a place of deadness. I’m speaking here of the deadness of all human possibilities. It is a place where man-made plans flourish at first but then die. It is a place where human hopes bring temporary relief but soon crash, adding to a sense of helplessness.
Have you been at this place of deadness? Has it seemed you have no options left? You can’t call
someone to advise you. The heavens are like brass when you pray, your requests falling to the
ground. I declare to you, this is God at work. His Spirit is working to get you to stop considering the impossibilities — to stop looking to human ways and means — to stop trying to think your way out of your situation. The Holy Ghost is urging you, “Quit hunting for help from some man. And quit focusing on how hopeless you think your situation is. Those are hindrances to your faith.”
Abraham didn’t stagger in his faith. Rather, he was “fully persuaded that, what (God) had promised, he was able also to perform” (Romans 4:21). He recognized that God is able to work with nothing. Indeed, our Lord creates out of a void. Consider the Genesis account: out of nothing, God created the world. With just a single word, he creates. And he can create miracles for us, out of nothing.
When all else fails — when your every plan and scheme has been exhausted — that is the time for
you to cast everything on God. It is time for you to give up all confidence in finding deliverance
anywhere else. Then, once you are ready to believe, you are to see God not as a potter who needs clay, but as a Creator who works from nothing. And, out of nothing that is of this world or its materials, God will work in ways and means you never could have conceived.
How serious is the Lord about our believing him in the face of impossibilities?
We find the answer to this question in the story of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. Zacharias was visited by an angel who told him that his wife, Elizabeth, would give birth to a special child. But Zacharias — who was advanced in years, like Abraham — refused to believe it. God’s promise alone was not enough for him. Zacharias answered the angel, “Whereby [how] shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years” (Luke 1:18). Simply put, Zacharias considered the impossibilities. He was saying, “This isn’t possible. You’ve got to prove to me how it will happen.” It didn’t sound reasonable.
Zacharias’ doubts displeased the Lord. The angel told him, “Behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season” (1:20). The message is clear: God expects us to believe him when he speaks. Likewise, Peter writes: “Let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator” (1 Peter 4:19, my italics).
I am convinced that right now the faith of the body of Christ is under fierce satanic attack. All the
demonic hordes of hell, Satan’s amassed principalities and powers of darkness, are waging an all-out war against the faith of God’s saints. We know that Satan has always brought intense attacks against God’s people, causing awful suffering. For centuries, the blood of martyrs has been spilled. Godly saints like Job have been tried severely. But the onslaught against the faithful we see today is Satan’s last stand.
Just as wickedness abounds around the world today, so do the afflictions and trials of God’s church. We’re seeing an unprecedented barrage of sickness, affliction, trouble after trouble, one problem after another — all of which make an overcoming life seem impossible to any believer. Yet, all that we are facing right now is supernatural:
“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).
In Luke 22, we find Satan attacking Peter’s faith. Here was a godly man who was overconfident in his faith. In fact, Peter had just boasted before the other disciples that his faith would endure all trials and tests. He declared, in essence, “Others may waver, Lord, but not me.”
It happened at Passover, on the last day of Jesus’ ministry on earth. What was Christ’s response to Peter’s bold declaration of faith? He said to the apostle, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat” (Luke 22:31).
Some scholars translate the meaning here as, “Satan has demanded to have you, to sift you.” The
word “sift” speaks of a repeated, violent shaking from side to side, then a tossing up and down.
Note that Jesus’ words here describe the same demand Satan made concerning Job. The devil had said to the Lord about Job, “Put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face” (Job 1:11).
Now, at Passover, Satan wanted to try to destroy Peter’s faith in the same
way. Jesus forewarned Peter that the devil would sift him and attack his faith. Yet Christ assured him, “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not” (Luke 22:32).
I am convinced Satan has intensified this same demand of sifting the Lord’s elect today. Why is the devil so determined to shake God’s righteous ones in our time? It is because he knows his time is short. It is because sin abounds and the love of many is growing cold. It is because he failed to bring down Job, he failed to bring down Peter, he failed to bring down generations of martyrs. So now he is determined to bring down the faith of this last generation.
Indeed, Satan’s attacks can become so overwhelming that our faith may experience an eclipse.
Consider what happens during an eclipse: when the earth moves between the sun and moon, it
obscures the light. For a time, the sun’s rays are interrupted. Something similar can happen with the faith of even the godliest believer. Satan can bring trials that are so intense they seem to block the Light that empowers our faith. Peter suffered a severe eclipse of faith. The once-bold apostle’s faith seems to have failed. Yet Peter was warned clearly that an eclipse of his faith was coming. Jesus told him, “The rooster will not crow tomorrow until you have denied me three times.”
Just hours later, Peter’s faith was in complete shambles. I can only imagine what went through this
man’s mind to cause him to curse Christ and lie, saying, “I don’t know this Jesus you’re talking about.”
Did Satan flood Peter’s mind with doubts about Jesus actually being God in flesh? As I put myself in Peter’s place, I imagine him wondering many things during that awful night: “If Jesus were God, how could he allow such humiliation? How could he be God and yet not be able to deliver himself, let alone humankind?” Peter’s faith went into a total eclipse. It seemed as though the shining sun of faith had been totally extinguished. Yet Peter’s eclipse here is recorded for the comfort and encouragement of all believers who are enduring their own eclipses of faith.
Have your trials become so intense, you’ve found yourself in what seem to be impossible situations? Now Satan has planted doubts in your mind: questions about God hearing your cries, doubts about the faithfulness of his promises, questions about the effectiveness of prayer.
A recent poll shows that atheism is spreading rapidly across America and the world. Some 30 percent of Americans now say they no longer believe in the God of the Bible. Their stated reason for this growing unbelief, especially among young people, is simply, “God never answered my prayers.” I tell you, we are in the midst of war! You are facing evil powers, fighting for your faith against the father of all lies. He is the one who has planted all those little thoughts: “Where is your God? Things are going from bad to worse. Your pain, your suffering, your needs keep mounting.
God has promised to make a way of escape for you. So, where is the way? Where is your God now, when you need him most?” You are now being shaken and sifted. And in the midst of it all, your faith seems to have failed. Like Peter, you are in an eclipse. You feel defeated, your faith in shambles.

Beloved, I have good news for you: God is not mad at you. You may ask: “Doesn’t Jesus suffer when we mistrust him? Doesn’t the Lord grieve when we waver and question his Word and his faithfulness?” Yes, yes, he absolutely does. But those who have failed in faith can still keep their eyes on Jesus. Peter’s faith did not fail.
“And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter” (Luke 22:61). When Jesus’ gaze met Peter’s, the apostle broke and wept. How patient is our Lord, how merciful. He hears all our murmuring and questioning, he sees so many doubtful thoughts in our minds — yet he looks upon us with forgiveness and compassion. Peter was restored and lived out a great life of faith. Remember, Jesus had given him this word of encouragement at Passover: “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:32).
This is the Lord’s word for you and for me as well. He tells us just as he told Peter, “Keep your eyes on me. You are going to come through this. And you’re going to help your brothers and sisters in my house.” Later, in the book of Acts, we find Peter locked up in an inner prison. An angel comes to him, shakes off his chains, and tells him to get up and leave. At that point, Peter never looks at the impossibilities around him: the iron gates he had to go through, the many guards and soldiers he had to pass by at his own peril. Instead, Peter rises in faith at the angel’s instruction, and when he comes to the iron gates, they open of their own accord.
So it will be for you, dear saint, if you are willing to get up and move on in faith. I have been reading many letters from saints who face seeming impossibilities. A grandmother writes of her grief over the murder of her precious granddaughter. The young woman was killed by her estranged boyfriend, who then killed himself. This grandmother is overwhelmed with grief. She closes her letter with a plea: “Is there a word from God for us? Please help.”
A woman who describes herself as “strong in faith” wrote the following: “I was married for twenty-five years to a wonderful man who died from diabetes five years ago. I married again later, but during the honeymoon my new husband tripped and fell, resulting in a fractured neck. He was healing, but complications set in, with infection and blood clots. Within a month, he died. I am shaken. I don’t understand how such a thing could happen.”
An eighty-year-old pastor writes that his wife lives in constant pain from many surgeries. Her pain is so intense she can hardly sleep, but doctors say they can’t help her. The pastor closes his letter, “I feel like a battered warrior.” I do have a special word for all who face impossibilities:
A recovery of faith depends on a fuller revelation of the love of our heavenly Father toward us.
“The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he
will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17).
Here is a glorious revelation of the steadfastness of God’s love for his people. Scripture tells us he rests and rejoices in his love for us! The Hebrew word for “rest” here means God hasn’t a single question concerning his love for us. In other words, he has fixed, or settled, his love for us, and he will never take it away. In fact, we’re told God is so satisfied in his love for us that he sings about it.
Can you imagine this? Here is a manifestation in heaven of God’s delight over you.
John Owen interprets the passage this way: “God leaps, as overcome with joy.”

Moreover, Paul tells us, everything that is out of divine order — all that is of unbelief and confusionis changed by the appearance of God’s love. “After that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared” (Titus 3:4).
In the preceding verse, Paul says, “We ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived” (3:3). In other words: “Everything was out of order. Our faith was not an overcoming one. But the kindness and love of God appeared, which the Father shed on us abundantly through Christ.”
When Paul says the love of God “appeared,” he uses a word from a Greek root meaning
“superimposed.” In short, the Lord looked down on us poor, struggling souls, full of fear and
questioning, and he superimposed this revelation: “My love will deliver you. Rest and delight in my
love for you.”
I thank God for the day his love “appeared” to me. There is no faith that can stand against
impossibilities unless everything — every problem, every affliction — is committed into the loving care of our Father. When my situations are at their worst, I must rest in simple faith.
I may not see the evidence, but God is at work. Every moment of the day, every hour I sleep, he is
making a way for me. And his plan is right on schedule, at all times. What seems to me a delay is his holy work. He is getting at things deep down in me that must be settled so that he can fulfill his
promises.
One day, I will look back at these trying times and say, “Lord, now I see. You were there all the time, working my miracle!”
Never, ever quit praying and crying out to the Lord.
Those who are in despair may be tempted to shut themselves out of communion with God. Yet doing so can be fatal. In Psalm 88, you may find a description of what you are going through. A godly man named Heman tells of his hopeless situation:

“My soul is full of trouble. I have been brought down to the pit, and I am among the dead. God has
laid me in the lowest pit in darkness, and his wrath lies hard on me. My friends have forsaken me; I am shut up, closed in. I mourn because of my affliction” (my paraphrase).
Heman then challenges God: “Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise thee? Shall thy loving kindness be declared in the grave? Or thy faithfulness in destruction? Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? And thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?” (Psalm 88:10–12).
Heman is saying, in effect, “I need a miracle now, Lord, not at the Resurrection. This is my last hope. Soon it will be too late, because I’ll be dead. You face a deadline here, God. Help me, or it’s too late. Why are you casting me off? Why do you hide your face from me? Why don’t you answer my cries?” This is hopelessness, despair, an apparently impossible crisis.
What can a godly soul do? How does a righteous soul react? Like Heman, we are to cry night and day:
“O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee. Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry. Unto thee have I cried, O Lord; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee” (Psalm 88:1–2, 13).
Here are three things I do in my times of great affliction:
1. I receive and believe in the love and delight of my heavenly Father.
2. I pour out my heart before him, crying to him in silence.
3. I encourage my soul with his promises daily.
Our faith and strength may grow weak. But in our times of weakness, God has given us marvelous
promises to renew and strengthen us. Here are some of his promises that sustain me:
- “God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect. He sent from above, he took
me; he drew me out of many waters; he delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that
hated me: for they were too strong for me. He is a buckler [protector] to all them that trust in him” Samuel 22:33, 17, 18, 31).
- “Thou hast girded me with strength to battle” (2 Samuel 22:40).
- “They that stumbled are girded with strength” (1 Samuel 2:4).
- “The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace” (Psalm
29:11).
- “The God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God” (Psalm
68:35).
- “Forsake me not when my strength faileth.... I will go in the strength of the Lord God” (Psalm
71:9, 16).
- “Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee.... They go from strength to strength, every one
of them in Zion appeareth before God” (Psalm 84:5, 7).
Do you believe your God is strong, as the Psalmist declares? If he is, no power can stand before him. Commit everything into his mighty hand of strength. He will make a way. Most of all, believe his word:
“In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul”
(Psalm 138:3).

© 2008 World Challenge, Inc.,

CHARISMATIC CONFRONTATION AND CLEANSING

Charismatic Confrontation and Cleansing
by David Cannistraci www.davidcannistraci.org
________________________________________
A year of humuliation has brought us to a moment of truth.
In the timetable of God, 2008 is slated to be a year of new beginnings and resurrection in the church. We're due for a season of renewal! The Lord is bringing us joy in proportion to our former pain. He is replacing our years of hardship with years of blessing and preparing us to prosper in places that have been difficult in the past (see Ps. 90:15-17, NLT). Wonderful times are ahead, but something important needs to happen first: It's time for some confrontation and cleansing.
2007 was a year of embarrassing defeats for charismatics. We began the year steeped in the news of fallen leadership. Late-night comedians made jokes about ministers, gay prostitutes and drugs, but it wasn't funny to us.
When summer arrived, things got worse. Allegations of perversion in a well-known Atlanta-area ministry resurfaced, and a famous prophetess reported being beaten by her bishop-husband.
As fall approached, we faced more mega-ministry divorces, allegations of ethical misconduct in a charismatic university and a senate investigation of six television ministries. It's been a brutal year—but if we'll listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying, God can turn it around.
The life of David contains a message for the church in this hour. David was a man after God's heart, but his family was wracked with the kinds of scandals that are all-too familiar today.
After his own moral failure, God honored David's repentant heart and blessed him. But David's sons were disappointing: Amnon was a rapist (see 2 Sam. 13), Absalom was a traitor (see 2 Sam. 18), Adonijah was a self-promoter (see 1 Kin. 1) and Solomon, though wise, was self-indulgent and excessive (see 1 Kin. 11:1-10). How could such a great leader produce such dysfunctional sons? David was charismatic, but he struggled with confrontation (see 1 Kin. 1:6).
The charismatic church is a lot like David. We're passionate about worship, prayer and God's power, but we have a dangerous blind spot: Like David, we're too slow to confront our own. A lack of true spiritual fathering has produced dysfunction and outrageous scandals.
I love the charismatic church, but we have issues. Our sexual sins, self-promotion and self-indulgence need to be addressed. If we don't get it together, we may lose our ability to influence the lost.
Confrontation is uncomfortable, but it's essential. We need the spirit of the 81 brave priests who confronted King Uzziah with his sin. They could have kept silent for fear of his authority, but their passion for God and His house required them to speak the truth and stop his madness (see 2 Chr. 26:16-18).
God is exposing what we have failed to face up to, and unless we clean house, things won't get easier. Any structure that celebrates charisma but is soft on truth and character is a house of cards. It's time to challenge the root issues that are rotting the charismatic family tree. We can't have the power of Pentecost unless we are immersed in holiness and cleansed by the fear of the Lord.
Our hope lies in another son of David who stands ready to cleanse and restore us. Jesus loves the church and gave His life to have a glorious bride without spot or wrinkle (see Eph. 5:26-27). He's ready to remove our shame and cleanse us in this season. If we'll respond, the renewal we need will come: "'A fountain will be opened to the house of David ... to cleanse them from sin and impurity'" (Zech. 13:1, NIV).
Many are prophesying that 2008 will be better than 2007, and I'm convinced they're right-on—if we'll get tough on sin and start telling one another the truth.