Pastor John, 

I was thinking this morning about something that the Lord showed me many years ago. That was this: The most fierce anger that a person will ever feel, is anger that was once pain. 

No one wants to hurt, and in this world it is a common occurrence for a person, once they have been hurt and experienced no reconciliation, to allow that pain to transform itself into anger. It seems that anger is more bearable for a person than a hurting heart. 

But that is not the way for the saints of God. When we are hurt, and there is no immediate reconciliation, we must leave that wound open, bear the pain and take it in humility to Jesus, knowing that He is the “lifter up of mine head”, and that His joy is greater than any pain that we humans can administer to one another.

We are not permitted to defend ourselves, and that includes allowing anger and bitterness to serve as the salve that binds up a painful wound inflicted on our heart by another. 

Such anger and bitterness is no cure at all, it is a cancer and it consumes the soul.

Jerry 

============ 

Thank you for that, Jerry.  I have seen that happen.  Let’s pray for those whose pain has turned into anger (or even hatred, which can also happen), that they will take their pain to Jesus and let him heal their hurt.  He will do it if they (1) are willing to feel the pain again, and (2) this time, be willing to forgive the one(s) who hurt them.

Pastor John

============

John,

Jerry’s thoughts about anger made me think of something that happened not long ago. 

You recently mentioned receiving a call from a backslidden brother wanting you to ask a sister in the Lord to compromise the truth “just one time” in order to satisfy a relationship that doesn’t even exist anyway.  When I heard about the way he went about this, I felt anger towards him.  It also brought up angry feelings from the past by the way he has manipulated, and deceived, and hurt many people.  I started praying about how I was feeling.  These scriptures came to mind from Psalm 139:  

19.  Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
20. For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
21. Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
22. I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

I asked the Lord to show me what it means to hate with a perfect hatred because I don’t want any ungodly anger or bitterness towards anyone, no matter what they have done. What came to mind is this. God is “angry with the wicked everyday”, but he is not bitter.  Jesus is ready to forgive any true repentant heart. A bitter person on the other hand does not forget or forgive, and sometimes seeks revenge. Bitterness can cause strife among the brethren. 

These thoughts gave me peace because I knew if Jesus stands ready to forgive, so can I. After all, he forgave me of my sinful life.  Do you have any thoughts on what David meant by hating with perfect hatred or my thoughts about bitterness?  I welcome any instruction on this matter. 

Thank you,

Tom

============

Hi Tom. 

Perfect hatred and perfect love are two sides of the same coin.  Perfect hatred of the ways of man is perfect love of God.  When we love God perfectly, we are hating the ways of our flesh perfectly, just like Jesus.

Perfect love and perfect hatred are holy things.  God feels them both, as do all those who are like Him.  Perfect hatred of the wicked is simply choosing to live your life without them being in control of it.  It is choosing to please God rather than man.  The brother you mentioned wanted me to talk to a sister in Christ and to persuade her to hate Jesus with perfect hatred and choose his way instead.  I couldn’t do that, though I did pass on his request to her.  She chose to love God perfectly and continue to follow Jesus, as I knew she would.

Thanks for the question, Tom.

In perfect love,

Pastor John

 

Wow this is really something.  And I love the thankful reactions of her and her husband. 

Vince

============

Amen, Vince.

These kind of videos can increase our faith instead of deadening our faith, the way worldly videos do.

Jdc

Vince was right, this really is something. And, like Vince, I loved the thankful reactions of the lady and her husband also. The power of God is real. The next video that came up was called “A A Allen Monkey Boy”. At about 2:17 He says: “Listen to me friend. This isn’t form, ceremony and ritual, this is the power of God, that looses men and women and sets them free. This is more than joining a church. This is more than water baptism. It improves (?) that. This is more than a profession. This is a confession. This is old time victory. This is old time joy. This is the power of God in the lives of His people.”  I loved that!

Darren

 

Pastor John, 

Tonight, you emphasized the importance, the value, the absolute necessity of a pure heart and a clear conscience before God.  You said, “That is Paul’s Gospel!”

That sentence rocked me.  I think I paused and caught my breath. That statement felt so big to me, so encompassing and so full of truth; It shook me.  I felt like a door had just swung open in our midst, to a more perfect understanding of Jesus. I couldn’t leave that place for a while.

The thought that I had next was, “That pure heart and clear conscience is the ‘liberty’ that the apostle Paul was speaking of.” Liberty from everything except that purity and clear conscience.  Liberated to pursue it, without giving mind to anything else.  And liberty to stay there, blameless before God.

Paul knew that every other way, except that way of liberty, was of such little significance and consequence that he was at liberty, at will, to put those things on or cast them off as needed. They meant nothing – whether for Paul or against him.  And for that reason he was free to use them : 1 Corinthians 9:20 

And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law.

Paul was at complete liberty to use every earthly tool for the furthering of the Gospel, for God’s people.

I can appreciate what your father, Preacher Clark, said to brother Murray, many years ago.  When brother Murray wrote your father and explained to him that the people he was worshipping with in Florida were deeply troubled about brother Murray never being water baptized.  Brother Murray had received the baptism that counts in Heaven, and was living full of that holy Ghost, but those Oneness people could hardly bear the fact that brother Murray had never been baptized in water. When Preacher Clark saw the Uncle Joe was getting a wrong attitude toward them, because of the arguments they all kept having, he told him, “Just go ahead and get water baptized, to give them some relief.”

Just like the apostle Paul, your father was demonstrating his freedom in Christ, His liberty from everything but Christ.  He knew water baptism amounted to nothing, and it had no place in Preacher Clark’s heart, either  to hurt or to help a soul, so he was free to use it.  With that, Preacher Clark advised brother Murray to use that same godly liberty to relieve those other people’s burden.  What spiritual wisdom and maturity! 

God is not afraid of nor superstitious about Christianity.  And He loves folk that are tangled up in it.  I sure can too.

Jerry

I just want to say that I am very thankful to be feeling much better today! Yesterday I was over that virus I had, but still had to use an inhaler every 6 hours. Last night after reading through the tract (Life More Abundantly) with everyone, and hearing LeeAnn’s and Jim’s testimonies, I came home to find that I did not need the inhaler at all last night. And I could even sing a little last night when I came home. Instead of my breathing and voice getting worse at night, last night it got better. I am so thankful to Jesus. I am thankful for the fellowship in the light. There is healing in that.

Donna

Pastor John,

Today Jesus and I spent the whole day together. It was one of those days where Jesus stayed with me and continued to teach me. I want to share one thing Jesus taught me today.

I put the 11/20/2016 meeting CD in as soon as I got into the car this morning. I was really enjoying the CD. Well, when brother Gary’s song, “I just had to raise my hands and praise the Lord” came on, I felt the Spirit fill the car. I listened to that song over and over. I felt so full. I felt flooded with thoughts of how beautiful the truth is. How much love God has shown to us, to lovingly pick each of us up and place us here, to learn and grow, just to get closer to Him!

As I pulled up to go to work, I did not want my time with Jesus to end. I felt him so strongly there with me that I couldn’t pull myself away. It was such a longing to stay with Jesus and to feel those feelings with him. I said, “Lord, I want to stay in this place with you forever!” This was what Jesus taught me when I said that.

There will be a day when we never have to leave that place with Jesus. We will never have to stop, never be interrupted or distracted from praising him. We will be saturated with those feelings eternally. An eternal fellowship with the Lord. This we feel now really is just a foretaste of what is to come. What a beautiful gift from the Lord!

Beth

Pastor John,

Wednesday night was so good to my soul.  I absolutely loved hearing you preach and teach the New Birth while going through 1John.  It is so simple, even a fool need not err.  It’s just like you said Wednesday.  God says “If you are thirsty, drink!”

I love the truth.  It is more precious than our very lives.  I just love it!  What peace and comfort and healing it does bring to my soul!

Thank you for the wonderful food and encouragement.

Donna

Pastor John, 

I always have loved Brother Branham’s humility.  I was young and in my twenties and listening to one of his tapes, “Faith is the Sixth Sense”.  I had scheduled a knee operation (torn MCL), and I was sitting in my rented house in the living room, listening to this tape and eating some supper (Judy was working at K-Mart), when the power of God touched me.   I started crying and feeling the power and the love of God running through my body.  I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror while Brother Branham was still preaching that Faith is a sixth sense.  I was very young in the Lord, but I believed what he was saying.  I knew without a doubt that God was healing my knee.

Later, I noticed my knee didn’t hurt, but was only sore.  Later still, right before the surgery, I noticed I didn’t have any pain at all.  I called the Doctor’s office and told them to cancel the surgery.  When the receptionist asked my why (?), I told her my whole testimony what God had done while eating my dinner that day.  I wasn’t thinking about my torn MCL at that time . . .but God.

I know that these types of touches create God-like faith to put our trust in Him.

I love, love!  Especially, the love of God!

Billy M

Here is that sermon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RdabdSpazg

 

Praise God John!

God already knows everything that has been done under the sun, and he is looking for the ones who want to be above the sun of this earth – the ones he has called and drawn to his Son to have life and have it more abundantly, the life that is not from this world, the life that this world knows nothing about!!   Not even the angels and other creatures in heaven have been granted to taste of this life.

Whew!  That is really something to take in!!  What does that say about how the Father and the Son feel about the new creature he has made of us by his sweet holy Ghost!! My, my!  Wow!  How wonderful the testimonies were Sunday morning and the songs that were sung.

Stuart