By the time I got to page 10 in our reading from last week, I found myself praying for Jesus to totally convince me of the worthlessness of my flesh every day, like in the dream I had years ago.  I felt like only then I would know what to pray for, to be able to pray asking in his name.

Jimmy T.

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Amen, Jimmy!  That portion of the Father and Son book is very sobering.  God help us take it in!  And there is more of the same to come.

Pastor John

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Good morning,

I am sitting here reading in Genesis and feeling overwhelmed with what I am feeling.

Jacob said to Joseph as he was dying, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked is the God who has been my shepherd since I was born until this day”. 

I had to stop and cry at the thought that I can say just like Jacob, “God has been my shepherd since I was born until this day.”  The very same God that loved Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Job, Hannah, David, Hezekiah, Josiah, Daniel, etc, and took such complete care of them through their good and hard times, is the same God that loves me!  He hasn’t changed. 

When I look up at the stars and talk to Jesus, I imagine when Abraham was doing the same.  He stood under the exact same stars and talked to my exact same Father.  But here’s the thing.  When faithful Abraham (whom God called His friend), was standing there having a wonderful conversation with his Father, he had no idea that his Father was hiding His dear Son and that Abraham would later “rejoice to see His day.”  (Whew!  I am rejoicing right now!)

When God told Abraham that night under the stars that his seed would be more than the number of stars in the sky, Genesis 15:6 says “Abraham believed Jehovah, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”  Abraham was as righteous as humanly possible, but he, just like everyone else, needed the kind of righteousness that only his Father’s dear Son could bring.  I’ve heard you say it so many times, “Everything depended on Jesus!”

So, here we are!  I can stand under those same stars and talk to my Father, but His dear Son is no longer hidden.  When I look up and think about being one of those stars, as I often do, I know who made that possible for me!  We don’t just get a taste of New Testament mercy, we are living under that New Testament mercy.  Mercy is dwelling inside of us, helping us, teaching us, loving us.  Can we even take that in? 

I am sacrificing my thankful heart to Jesus this morning!  So thankful to have this testimony, and most of all, to have someone I can tell it to!  Now, if I just had somebody I could hug right now!!:)

Lee Ann

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Morning Pastor John,

I was listening to The Father and Son, chapter 4, that you posted on Facebook, and Psalm 22 really hit me. 

Starting with verse 14:  “all my bones are out of joint.”

 I cannot even imagine the pain Jesus was in. Just one bone out of joint is terrible pain. 

“My heart is like wax; it is melted within me.”

Jesus did not have any strength left.  I hurt for him, reading this.

Verse 17: “I can count all my bones.”

I tried to picture that image and imagine what kind of hearts it really took to torture someone who is so thin that all his bones shown.  What kind of heart could be so wicked and cruel? 

Verse 18: “They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”

What kind of heart divides a dying man’s things in front of him.  If I picture that scene in today’s time, the wickedness of a heart like that is so awful. 

As I thought about what kind of heart that it took to be used by God to kill Jesus, I can see why God used them, and how it was a just reward for God to give such a heart a job like that.

Then I thought of what you said yesterday about what kind of man wouldn’t want Sister [name withheld] for a wife.  I thought of the condition of some men’s hearts, who forsake godly women with small children who were following Jesus. What condition their hearts must be in to do such a thing!  They are hurting God’s daughters and little ones; their hearts are like the hearts God used to kill His son.  

But God! 

Verse 19: “But you, O LORD, do not be far off! Help, come quickly to my aid!” 

When I look at what wonderful and full lives God’s daughters and their children have, verse 19 never read so sweet!  It’s like I am watching a scene from the Bible!  We can see God do it, right in front of us!  Jesus is near them, listening to every hurt that crosses their heart; he knows how cruelty feels. 

These thoughts touched me today! 

12. Many bulls have surrounded me; strong bulls of Bashan have encompassed me!
13. They opened their mouth like a lion, tearing and roaring at me.
14. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is melted within me.
15. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue is stuck to my palate; yea, you have brought me to the dust of death.
16. Dogs encompass me; the congregation of the wicked encircle me. They pierced my hands and my feet.
17. I can count all my bones. They gaze and stare at me.
18. They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.
19. But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O my Help, come quickly to my aid!

Beth D.

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John,

Last night’s reading of the Father and the Son book was enlightening!  It changed something in me and opened my eyes to see what God was doing with his servant Job, in the book of Job.

Job was the most righteous man on earth, and yet his righteousness was not enough; it failed in comparison to God’s righteousness.  Job was living as righteously as a man could have possibly lived at that time, and God knew it! 

He took Job beyond human righteousness, and as you said last night, He rewarded him with a glimpse of His kind of righteousness.  It was never a trial of whether Job would fail or not; it was God rewarding Job with something that Job knew nothing about!  

I thank God that we are living in this time, after He sent his Son so that we can live in His kind of righteousness, right now on this earth!!  I pray to God that I can take it all in and walk in it every day.  Thank you John!!

Stuart 

Wow!  I can’t wait to read the rest of Chapter 6 tonight.  These “Remembers” are so good.  The section on “God Took Him There” was especially good to me.  And these specific ones:

• God is patient with us because He is so determined to bless us, just as He was determined to bless Job
• To be carried by God is the only way anyone ever gets to the “secret place of the Most High”
• None of us who have God’s kind of life have it because wewanted it; we have it because He wanted us
• God had to create in us a hunger for His kind of life, and when He did that, we fell on our knees and sought Him for the relief from ourselves that His Spirit brings  (this is so good to think about!!!)

That last one made me stop and remember when God began to create that hunger in my young, 29-year-old self.  I was hungry, even though I had no idea where or how to begin seeking Him.  The only thing I thought to do was read my Bible, so I began in Genesis and planned to read straight through.  (We just take our little baby steps and Jesus will meet us there:)

Around that same time, I was at Mama’s house one Sunday afternoon and “happened” to pick up a  Davidson County Community College flier and saw your Old Testament class was being offered.  Something inside of me felt excited!  I had no idea what the class would involve or anything about its teacher, but I knew I wanted to sign up.  Leading up to the class, however, several people thwarted my excitement by telling me how boring “religion” classes had been for them.  As I was walking out the door for the first night of class, I felt a little apprehensive about going. Looking back at my two young girls sitting with Robert on the couch,  I remember telling him,  “I’m gonna go for this first class, but if this turns out to be some lofty, religious professor who just likes to hear himself talk, I’m not going back”.  (So little did I know!)

I’ll never ever forget that first class.  It was unlike any class I’d ever had before.  I could just sense how much you loved the Old Testament and teaching this class, and it made me excited and eager to learn it, too!  

You gave us our maps and the list of people and places we needed to pay attention to as we read.  You talked about those Old Testament  characters like they were family, and you made their stories come to life.  And as we continued through the class, those characters  began to feel like family to me, too!  I have never been so excited about a class; ever!  For our first class we lacked the  twelve students required to continue the class, so you urged us to go home and  tell our friends and family about the class.  I went straight home and called anyone I thought might be interested and invited them all to come with me to the next class.  Mama was the only one who accepted my invitation, and she  joined the class for a short while.  

I followed you from the community college to Psalm 91, to Billy H.’s basement, to your Lexington house, and finally to Elderwood Lane in Burlington.  God had created in me a hunger for His kind of life!  I’m so thankful for that this morning, I can hardly keep typing!  God wanted ME!

And it wasn’t long after that, I “fell on my knees and sought Him for that relief from myself”!  And oh what a sweet relief I feel, to this very moment, every time He comes!  

Still following :), 

Lee Ann

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Hi Pastor John,

I started reading the biography of your father today: (https://www.pioneertract.com/)

The experiences those saints had were so real and even physically visible to everyone around.  That story about Sister Murray seeing the light encapsulate her vehicle so she could get her family back home from the prayer meeting and how Brother Hunnings’ leg was healed late in life was so powerful.

The saints at that time were so free in Jesus! They expected things to happen in the NOW because of the Spirit; they weren’t waiting on things to ‘stabilize’ due to a false sense of security from modern civilization/technology. Sometimes, individuals are too ‘secure’ in the current world or modern tech/healthcare we live in to see their vital need for God.  Those saints showed up to a prayer meeting and were available for JESUS to do something…anything…for them.  I love to visualize those holy meetings where people could be healed from merely hearing the music.  They expected for those miracles to happen when they got together!

I want that kind of faith that they had!  I want the healings that those old saints experienced for us…now!  We have the same holy ghost that can heal us as those saints were healed…and we need Jesus just as much as they did.

I got this book in a binder from Aunt Sandy’s, sweet little side note! I cannot wait to read the rest, thank you for writing about our family history (Je-(sus)-neology, ha!).

Wendy

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Pastor John,

I have got to tell on Jesus. I went on call midnight Friday night.  I worked yesterday to make up one of the days I was out for my catheter.  While in the parts room (which is very much like the dream before I was hired, full to the ceiling) looking for a part I needed, I found a cast saw blade taped to a box.  My first thought was, what an odd place for that blade and then went on looking.   Well, last night at 1030 pm I get a call from the nurse manager, “someone from your shop took the cast saw from ER and didn’t return it.  They have a kid who fell into a pool and they need to cut off his cast and we can’t find one anywhere.”  Cody, the guy who took the saw texted and told me it was on his bench, he took it because the blade was bad and he was waiting for the new one to come in.

When I first got to work, the manager was already in the shop looking for a power cord.   So I went right back to where I remembered that blade being.   It was actually the correct blade.   I installed it and had the unit working in just minutes.  I remembered thinking “what a crazy place for a saw blade” when I first saw it and Jesus immediately was on my mind. 

So, I told Alice, the nurse manager, what Jesus had done for me by showing me the blade earlier and letting me remember where it was (you have no idea how crazily our parts room is misarranged)!  Cody called me shortly afterwards and I also told him the story and that Jesus had saved the day!   His reply was, “I know God takes care of you.”  I love my new life in the Lord! He is so very good to us!

Happy fathers day to all our blessed fathers!

Mark W.

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John,

I have read over the papers and the new stuff on the phone you sent out.  It is wonderful. I can hardly believe we are in exactly the same place they were in heaven, our hearts being tried every day all the time!  How can ANYONE ever hope to make to make it through without completely being subdued to the Spirit and mind of it, and the mercy of God.  His silence tries us through and through.  It makes my heart tremble, and LOVE IT MORE at the same time!

Jimmy T.

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