Brother John,

I’ve been thinking a lot today about what you said at last night’s meeting right before prayer time – “If you could see your need and see how eager He is to meet it, you’d hasten to him, hasten to him, nothing stops you.”

That felt like a strong invitation for us to come, without hesitation, without thinking, to freely come, to gladly come and thankful for the opportunity to move. We all need God. 

The song, “I Am Resolved” is one of my favorite old hymns. The last verse, especially, is so good. 

I am resolved, and who will go with me? Come, friends, without delay, Taught by the Bible, led by the Spirit, We’ll walk the heavenly way. I will hasten to Him, Hasten so glad and free, Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee.” 

Loved the feelings in the meeting last night. 

Sheila

 

Pastor John, 

I loved the meeting last night. I loved the feelings. Sister Kathy’s testifying about being free to praise Jesus sang to my heart. The feelings were so strong while we were singing, and I kept thinking I just want to let go and feel it. I don’t want to worry about being too happy or clapping too much or singing badly, I just want to be free to feel every bit of it.

When I got up this morning and thought about Jesus so tenderly taking care of Margo and her son and the tenderness he has shown Sister Debbie through surgery and afterward, I felt so sweet. I began to thank Jesus for his sweetness, and it reminded me of when I asked him to make me sweet inside. Jesus is answering that prayer, and I can say that, because I know it’s not me. I did not sweeten me up. You know it’s like Jesus is making lemonade. First he squeezes all the bitterness out and he gives you the holy ghost (drowns you) then begins to add the sweetener, and after he beats on you a while, stirring it all up until the sweetness consumes the other, then you are ready. All stirred up and sweet and ready for a thirsty soul.

Boy I want to be Free Lemonade Pastor John. I really want to be free enough for Jesus to pour me out to someone thirsty for this sweet life.

Beth

Pastor John, 

Sometimes, while I am falling asleep late at night, and consciousness seems to be leaving me, or during other times when I am starting to slowly awaken out of a deep sleep , on those mornings when my alarm is disabled, I will feel a real sense of my frailty as a human being come over me, and it will cause me to feel, to a much greater depth, my utter dependence on God. It is as if, during those times while half-asleep and with a mind that is clear and nearly shut down, an understanding of who I really am is given to me.  An understanding that when I shut my eyes, I may never open them again, unless the Lord wakes me up once more. Sometimes, during these times between consciousness and sleep, I can hear my heartbeat as I lie there, and I will realize that I am hearing the rhythm of a clock, my clock, and it is most certainly winding down my life.  And then there are other times when the weight of another day’s work and the aches and pains of a body that is wearing out can be felt, and it will remind me that all of this is just for a very short season, and that I am indeed going to die.  And though hardly awake during any of these events, I can feel them each and every time drive me to my knees in my soul, and cause me to cry out for God’s help and mercy on me.

Yesterday, I arrived home from work in the afternoon with just enough time available to take a 40 minute nap before going to the tract room.  I was really exhausted, as I had not slept much during the nights that preceded.  So, I made quick work of getting to my pillow, and I fell asleep immediately.  I then felt myself coming out of that sleep, after what I perceived then to have been a short nap.  As I was coming to, I felt an awesome fear of the Lord upon me, as if He were close by and I was ever so small, exposed and helpless in His presence.  The feeling of His nearness frightened me, as I felt what I can only describe now as the feeling of “eternity” with Him.  I felt true judgment and the feeling of forever, in his presence.  Then, in my heart and without uttering an earthly sound, I cried out “God I am praising you!!” and in fear of Him, I threw myself prostrate to the floor.  I then heard Him speak and He said, “I don’t want your praise, I want your obedience and your work.”  And at the same moment that God spoke those words to me, another voice from somewhere unseen spoke to me as well, and though the messages were spoken simultaneously, I understood them both, equally, as if I had given nothing but my full attention to each, and I heard, “Praise isn’t for God; it is for you.”  And with those words came this understanding: God allows us to feel the power of His Spirit crying out praises to Him through our earthly vessels, for our benefit, not His.

I then got up and went and did my work at the tract room. 

Jerry

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Thanks, Jerry.

Part of what you said reminds me of what the Lord told my father once, after he had been healed.  As he rode home from the doctor’s office, my father started praising God, and Jesus said, “Shut up!  I want your praises to be in how you live from now on!”

My father shut up, and after that experience, he set his mind as never before to doing the work God had given him to do.  Kind of that way you said you did!

As for your last point, God is so good, to give us work to do, or to give us the spirit of praise and worship, and then give us strength to accomplish those things – and then pat us on the head and say, “Good job!”  You just cannot beat God for goodness and mercy.

Thanks again.

Pastor John

 

When I read this in Jeremiah, it made me think of our wayward children and the love God has for them.  I pray they come to themselves while there is a time for repenting.

I have heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the Lord my God. For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 31:18-20

Bess

Pastor John.

I would like to share something that the Lord has been talking to my heart about tonight:

People believe that other people are just like them.  The person that uses foul and offensive language believes that everyone speaks that way, and they usually demonstrate that belief into the ears of others, wherever they go.  Folk that have their mind on stealing what belongs to others, assume that other folk are pondering the same about their goods. These folk usually have a hard time trusting their belongings around others.

People that do not lie do not assume that another is lying to them. And one who lies will never believe that others are telling them the truth. This is why a wise man knows that a false accusation is a confession. We generally believe that others are what we are.  And that never changes; it cannot change unless Jesus changes us.

The Lord showed me, some years ago, that if you believe people will misunderstand you when you testify, if you fear that they will label you as self-righteous, when it is the Lord’s standards and righteousness pouring out of your heart, it is only because you misunderstand yourself.  And you believe that others are seeing you the way that you see yourself.

One of the things that our little portion of the body of Christ here has experienced recently is the passing of a parent of one of our dear brothers in the Lord. It really struck me during this time, and blessed me, how this brother’s wife labored to keep us all up to date with the details of what was happening, both with him and with his father who was about to leave this world.  But now, I am able to appreciate what she did for us, even more, because of what Jesus has shown me today. That is: why our dear brother’s wife worked so hard at keeping us all informed. She did so because she knew that we all wanted to know.  She knew, without question, that we all cared, and wanted to know everything that our brother and his family were going through. She knew all of this because she cared, and because she would want to know, if it were one of us in that same situation!  Her feelings of love toward us served as her measuring stick in determining how much we cared about her and her husband, and how much we would want to know about what was happening with them during this painful and trying time in their lives.

As people always do, she anticipated that we were just like her – in love with the body of Christ and concerned with every aspect of each other’s lives, especially those parts that hurt.  And by her sharing all of that information with us the way she did, and treating us all like we unquestionably loved her and her hurting husband, she was just confessing that she is guilty of feeling that way about us 🙂

I love what Jesus has shown me today, and I want to love the body of Christ so much, that I know they love me!  🙂

Praise God…He is for us!

Speaking of which, I passed my Electrical Level 3 Inspector’s exam today!  That is the top-tier electrical certification for the state, and the end of the “electrical” testing road for me, forever (other than continuing education). Yay!

I knew you would want to know 🙂

Jerry

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I have also seen people be surprised to see how excited we were to hear about what was going on with them.  I remember thinking, “This person has no idea how much we love him and want to know how things are going with him.”   In the cases I am thinking of, it turned out that the person did not love others or have any interest in how they were doing – and thought everyone else was just like that toward him.  He could not imagine people loving him because he did not love people.

My father said it this way, “You see the world as being the color of the sunglasses you are wearing.  And as you say, that cannot change until Jesus changes it.

And congratulations on you electrical exam.  I DID want to know.

Pastor John

 

Hi Pastor John,

I don’t want to write you too much, especially since you are working on IK, but it’s not my fault.  Jesus keeps talking to me, and I cannot hold this in!

The other night as I began to cut up a green pepper, I looked at the heart of the pepper that had all the seeds inside of it.  It was like Jesus was right behind me and whispered, “Everything you need to grow I have placed inside.”  Then the next morning as I was blindly walking to get coffee, I glanced at a banana on the counter.  The peel was beginning to get dark.  Again it was as if Jesus whispered right into my ear, “When the outside is bruised and dark and many would throw it away, that is when it is perfect and ripe.”  That is what Jesus did for me.  Many had given up on me, including me, but that is when I was ripe for Jesus.

So, as I was driving for work today thinking about Jesus whispering to me, I thought of how beautiful it is that Jesus knows what stirs my heart, what it is that I find beautiful and hold dear.  What Earthly lover can so intimately touch the heart?  Only holy intimacy can go so deep within.  These are the feelings that flooded me.  I felt like I was feeling Psalms.  A pure intimacy with the Lord.

Beth

John,

A thought struck me just now as I was taking a walk outside during my lunch break. It’s a beautiful sunny day here in Greensboro, not too hot or humid. It’s one of those days when it feels so nice to sit under the sun’s rays. It almost feels like the sun’s rays have a rejuvenating power to them.

It made me recall how the new heavens and earth will be lit not by a new sun or moon but by God and Jesus emitting their own light.  I couldn’t help but think that what we feel from the sun today on earth will pale in comparison to what we’ll feel from the light of our heavenly Father.  If the sun can put a smile on my face, can you imagine what it will feel like to bask in the light of God!  Whew!  I was walking around the parking lot today speaking in tongues just thinking about it.

Michael D.

Hi Pastor John,

I was driving down the road today and the spirit started talking to me.  Last night Michelle and I cleaned your office, so I had the thought, “I wonder if Barbara might see something that needs to be done differently, maybe offer us a little constructive critique.” As soon as I had the thought, this is what the spirit said (paraphrased):

To construct is to build up. To destruct is to tear down. Man thinks destructive criticism is always bad, but what is it that the criticism is tearing down?  If it is tearing down pride and self-will, then it is constructive criticism.  Or even if it is something you think you don’t need help with, but it is keeping you from the next good place with Jesus, it is still constructive. Whether the criticism you offer is constructive or destructive, just don’t let it be obstructive. 

Then it just got really, really quiet. I still feel really quiet. 

destructive–criticism. Noun. Criticism given with the intention to harm someone, derogate and destroy someone’s creation, prestige, reputation and self-esteem.

Beth