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  • A Message from the Lord

    Dear Bro. John:

    The Lord leaves such a depth of satisfaction in the soul when he visits.

    This morning, I had a dream of people of all cultures getting married in all sorts of different ways and different ceremonies all around the world.  As the dream ended and I was awakening, it was as though an angel of the Lord and I had just observed all that was happening in these scenes, and he immediately began teaching me why what we had just seen was so wrong.  This is what I heard in the Spirit from the conversation the angel was having with me:

    “That’s why this marriage issue is so important to God.  It represents who HE is.  Heaven is not full of ceremonies.  It is full of LIFE!  When God puts two living beings together that’s who He is — LIFE!  Dead people celebrate death with dead ceremonies; God celebrates LIFE with two LIVING beings and NO ceremonies.  That’s who He is – – LIFE!”

    I knew that “living beings” meant those who had God’s Spirit, and that “dead people” were those without His Spirit.  As I thought on the richness of what I had just heard, the Lord kept sending wonderful thoughts my way.

    When God gave His Son to die and then sent back His Spirit, Jesus was the end of all symbols God used.  Jesus was the last of the sacrificial lambs used by God on earth to atone for the sins of mankind.  By his death, Jesus put all other symbols to death.  As the Lord once told me:  “Symbolism is NOT Me!”  I understood what he said to me better today than I did when he spoke it the first time!  Jesus was the last sacrificial sign of earthly ceremony.  It was not Jesus who spoke that day when I heard, “Symbolism is NOT Me!”  Those words came from the Son of God who represents Life, not symbol nor ceremony.  Whatever does not represent Life does not represent God nor His Son.

    It has been good to my soul all day long to think this one thought:  Jesus was the end of all symbols and his sacrifice put all symbols to death.

    See you soon,
    Sandy

    For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
    For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”  Romans 10: 3,4

    “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”  Galatians 3:24

  • Oral Roberts / Sickness

     

    Dear John,

    Strange coincidence yesterday. . .  as I was sitting here in my chair at my computer, listening on Skype, my eyes glanced to my bookshelves, and i saw a book on my shelf by Oral Roberts: Better Health and Miracle Living (published in 1976).

    I don’t recall ever buying that book. I never knew I had it.  Don’t remember seeing it on my shelf before. Perhaps I picked it up a while ago at the public library on one of their “free books” shelves.

    On the day of his death, I happened to notice this book on my shelf.  !?

    So, I glanced through it and found that he emphatically states that no sickness comes from God, but from the Devil.  He says that sickness is rarely, if ever, a punishment for sins, but an infliction from the Accuser to separate us from our Father.

    I immediately thought about the many O.T. instances where God really did inflict the children of Israel with sickness and death, and in Micah, God says “I will make thee sick—and make thee desolate—-because of thy sins.”  Not to mention the obvious sicknesses that God plagued the Egyptians with for the sake of Moses. . .(was all that from the devil, Dr Roberts?)  . . .And the Bible says that God scourges all those whom He has chosen. . . but Brother Roberts says that Jesus came to heal all that were oppressed of the devil…so that implies that all sickness and oppression is becasue of the work of teh devil. . and Jesus  came to bring us good, not evil, and thus destroy those works of the devil.

    Oral Roberts also says that it’s a mistake to say that sickness is a blessing .  Yet Preacher Clark’s life was turned around because of his “bless-ed cancer,” was it not?  And Uncle Joe too.   

    So, now I am compelled to research all of this, re-reading your book on All Things, putting my concordance to work, searching for the truth about whether or not Brother Roberts, (a prince in the kingdom of God) was right in his interpretation of the Bible, or only partly right, or entirely wrong. 

    I reflected on several instances of illness in me , since I have received the Spirit.  I KNOW for a fact that I have been afflicted with certain conditions of illness because of sinful thoughts and/or deeds, and I have repented and resolved those matters in my heart.  My own sinful behavior caused me to “blow a fuse”, so to speak.. . . .from which I learned, through my suffering, what I must not continue to do.  On the other hand, if we are to live victoriously in Christ, doesn’t that imply that we ought to be thoroughly healthy—- in our bodies , our minds, our finances . . .and all areas of our life? 

    Then I thought about Job,and read some chapters, and that makes it clear that God didn’t bring illness and hardship to Job, but allowed Satan to inflict his life.  (So, Oral Roberts is right in that case.)

    Anyway, I am into this now….  and if you have any comments or corrections, bring ’em on.  :^)

    Love, Brad
    ===============

    the next day . . . .

    Continuing thoughts. . .

    If the holy Ghost spoke to you and said, “It tickles the Devil for God’s people to blame their troubles on him,”. . and by that message you learned that we need to seek God in our afflictions to find His purpose… is Brother Roberts still wrong in blaming the devil for afflicting us?   Maybe God is giving Satan the power to afflict us, so that we will seek God more, as He did with Job. . . or. . maybe not.   I am confuzzled about this now.

    My questions and concerns still remain:

    –Why does Token continually get sick?

    —Why is dear sister Willie afflicted?

    –What has God shown Sheila Durham during her illness?

    Is Sheila’s a “punishment,” or a “chastening” from God?  (Bro Roberts would say “no.”)  Strong’s concrodance doesn’t define chastening as sickness.  It merely defines it as correction or “to make weary”…..  If so, why does Sheila’s affliction continue, if she has learned her lesson and repented?  Why can’t she be healed?  And. . . . .Why do we not see more health in our midst, while so many other blessings abound?

    I believe your teaching on “All Things,” John, but I must re-read it to be certain.  . . for if you honor Oral Roberts so highly, then why did he not preach more of the truth when God empowered him to heal so mightily and so frequently?

    And why is there so much “healing” in Xn ministries if they are teaching false doctrine?  

    Sheesh!  A lot of questions are on my heart.

    I just want to know and understand  the truth, Lord. 

    Brad
    ==============

    These are questions many have had, Brad, and it is understandable that you ask them, especially when such godly men of faith such as Oral Roberts seemed to teach differently.

    First, let me refer to a comment made by my father, whose healing and miracle services, beginning in the early 1930’s, rivaled some of the miracles in the Bible, according to eye witnesses that I have spoken to in my lifetime.  He told me that the greatest miracles God ever performed through him were accomplished while he was teaching false doctrine; that is, while he was still repeating to his congregations what his Church of God elders had told him to teach.  Why that is the case, I cannot say.  But he said it, and so, the fact that Brother Roberts or anyone else performed miracles while teaching false doctrine does not make me doubt the truth.  In fact, I doubt that Brother Roberts, Ernest Angeley, Kathryn Kuhlman, Benny Hinn, and others with the gifts of healing saw/see eye-to-eye concerning the doctrines of Christ.  They probably differed in many areas of doctrine. 

    Brother Roberts was not my servant.  He will answer to his own Master concerning his works, including whatever he taught about the devil being responsible for all sickness and disease.  I have never considered myself to be on such a spiritual plane as to be able to judge him.  He was a prince in the kingdom of God.

    I can only confess what the Spirit spoke to me.  And I have to say that everything I have ever read in the Bible confirms that it was the voice of the Lord that spoke to me on the evening of August 23, 1981 and said, “It tickles the devil for God’s children to blame their troubles on him.”  And more truth followed on the heels of those words.  It was actually as if the following was the completion of that previous sentence from Jesus: “…because as long as they are blaming him, they are not searching for God’s purposes.”

    As for your questions about the circumstances of specific individuals among us and what God has determined for them, in every case a revelation from God would be needed in order for us to understand God’s reasons.  That is something else the Lord taught me.  Without hearing from God, nobody anywhere, whether in heaven or on earth, understands why God does anything.  One reason for suffering does not fit every occasion of suffering.  This is why Jesus did not teach that all sickness was the result of sin, or that all sickness was the result of demon possession, etc.  He was alive in the Spirit to what his Father was doing that he discerned different reasons for different people.  Paul had friends very close to God who grew deathly sick, such as Epaphaditus, and other very trusted fellow workers who had frequent illnesses, such as young Timonthy.

    So, Brad, let not your heart be troubled.  If you hear anything from God as to why any one among us is suffering, then you will know.  Until then, you can still rest in peace, knowing that God is good and that all His works are done in truth.

    Pastor John

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

    Hi John,

    I thank you very much for your thorough response to my questions.  I really love it when you explain and discuss issues at length.  !! 

    I am a bit embarrassed that it was sent out to everyone, because I was stumbling and fumbling through my own thoughts at the time I wrote it, and some of my questions sounded naiive and confused, I suppose.

    But it really doesn’t matter, as there must be others who have also felt the same feelings, so I think our correspondence might be helpful to all.  I have a caring heart for this issue, in particular, and for people who are ill, because I love HEALTH!  :^)  

    Both your letters to me and to Rob Sullivan were masterpieces of  kindness and reasonable writing. 

    YOU ARE THE MOST HONEST and HUMBLE MAN I KNOW.

    Thank you again , with all my heart.

    Brother Brad

  • A Question About Satan

    http://www.goingtojesus.com/text/books/fatherandson.pdf

     

    Hey Brother John,

    I was listening to one of the chapter cd’s regarding the Father and Son book today and it gendered a question.  

    Although the Son was hidden from him, do you think that Satan may have been aware of the existence of an empty throne?
    ==============

    When John was taken up into heaven for his revelation, he saw no throne beside God’s, ready for another person (i. e., the Son).  So, I am not sure there ever has been an empty one.
    ==============

    After this question came to my mind, I pondered it, and these are some things I thought of.

    Being “full of wisdom” it seems unlikely that Satan would have thought it possible to sit on a throne with God unless there was already one available and unoccupied.  It seems to be too great a thought to have it come to him “out of the blue” so to speak.  Even for someone full of pride it seems that he would have to be provoked to aim that high.  In the book of Esther, Haman was full of himself but his ambitions didn’t peak until he thought that both the king and Esther thought as highly of him as he did.  If Satan did have knowledge of a empty throne, and thought of himself as Haman did himself, then he would have seen himself as the only one worthy to occupy such a place.  When the Son was suddenly revealed and was told by God to sit down at his right hand then he would have felt cheated, mistreated, and furious toward the one who, in his eyes, stole his rightful place.

    Billy H.

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

    Yes, all that could have been true about what Satan thought, but an empty throne did not need to be there in order for him to be aware of the possibility of reigning with God.

    jdc

  • Romans 8:16

    Pastor John

    Yesterday, reading Rom 8:16, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God”, the following occurred to me:  If, as is commonly supposed in Christianity, the Spirit is a person, then would it not reasonable to conclude from the same verse that our spirit is also a person?
    ===========

    Of course!
    ===========

    That would agree with your proposition in the Jan 29 TFE, “Paul Was A Trinity!”

    http://goingtojesus.com/site/php/thoughts.php?tname=tfe01-29

    ===========

    See?  I was right the whole time!  🙂
    ===========

    But then, as no one seems to draw my conclusion from this verse, that our spirit is a person, then would it not be reasonable to conclude that the Spirit of God, likewise, is not a person?
    ===========

    That would be a reasonable conclusion, yes.
    ===========

    Also, is it a Greek grammar thing that the word “our” is indeed plural in the Greek but “with … spirit” is singular?
    Damien
    ===========

    I have noticed that such is often the case.  We frequently find phrases such as “their heart”, where “their” is plural, but “heart” is singular.

    jdc

     

  • The Apple of His Eye

    http://pastorjohnshouse.blogspot.com/2009_12_08_archive.html

     

    Hi Pastor John,

    I have been thinking about the blog you did on 12/08/09 Part One: Restrained Wrath.  I got to thinking about why it is that way.  We all know that it is simply because God chose it to be that way.  This is from Deut. 32:9-10:  “For the LORD’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.  He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.”

    We are the apple of his eye.  When I say that, I feel humbled because I did not choose to be the apple of his eye; he choose me, and all of us, to be the apple of his eye.  David prayed (Ps. 17:8), “Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings.”

    That is my prayer as well, to stay the apple of his eye and not to become an irritation that he has to deal with and maybe even get rid of.

    As the Lord said, (Zech. 2:8) “After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you, for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.”  God’s people are very precious in his sight, and it matters to God how we are treated by other people and how we ourselves treat one another.

    I pray that we all realize what God has done for each one of us.  He took us out of a wasteland and put us into a land flowing with milk and honey, and made us the apple of his eye.  How valuable is that to our hearts?  Only as much as we keep his commandments and follow his spirit when he leads us.

    God help us to take it all in.
    Stuart

  • Playing Both Ends of the Line

    Pastor John,
     
    Today I was thinking of something I read recently.  I posted it a few wks. ago on my facebook.  I feel that Jesus wanted me to do that.

    I was reading in your “Thoughts For Today”, October 15th.  I love it.  Here are some quotes from that TFT:
     
    “Friendship with the world is enmity against God.”

    “Then to make themselves friends with worldly men, God’s children must become worldly because worldly men cannot make themselves righteous.”

    “When children of God and sinners mingle, it is always the righteous who must compromise if there is to be friendship.” (That was a really good one!)

    “Nobody can have it both ways, and if you think you do, you’re just fooling yourself.”

    “This does not mean at all that we cannot be good neighbors or that we can never speak of mundane matters to those around us. But there is a line in our efforts to show ourselves friendly that the Spirit of God will forbid us to cross, and we must take heed to that gentle, loving voice.  It is our SAFETY.”
     
    I love that Thought for Today.  I just picked out my favorite lines, but it is so good to read it all!!!!!!

    It kinds of reminds me when I was a little girl my mother said to me, “Show me your friends and I will show you what you are.”  That stuck with me while I was growing up. 
     
    I loved that thought for the day.  There your father was, on his death bed in April, 1989, and God was still working through him to speak to you. I LOVE it.
     
    M-m-m-m-m-m, this is so good.  Thank you, Jesus.
     
    Diane

  • Thanksgiving Meetings

    John:

    It’s late Saturday night and I find myself reflecting over the events of the weekend.  I felt like Jesus had a great desire to touch as many as would be touched, and I’m so glad that many were.  How sad I felt for anyone not there, especially for those who could have been there but  chose to be elsewhere.  That made me hurt, thinking of how it must have made Jesus feel.  It was like he was offering a very personal gift of himself and that it was discounted by some as less important than other things.

    Saturday night’ s meeting was wonderful to me because so many were receiving his love and being touched, especially the younger ones.  How that must have made Jesus feel!

    I want Jesus to know that I appreciate the mercy, patience, and love he has shown me more than ever.  I am so thankful for the wonderful people Jesus has put in my life and who love him.  Can I ever appreciate enough the countless things Jesus has done for me and the rest of us wherein I find myself rejoicing in what he did in the meeting here tonight?
     
    Robert A. Payne

  • Satan and Hell

    Hi pastor John,

    Last night I was pondering on what you said on skype about how that Christianity portrays Satan as being in charge of hell, like he is the one who is over it.  I thought, “That is the last place he wanted to be in charge of.”  He would have desired more to be over Paradise and all the people that were there because he desired to be like the most high (Isa. 14). Satan likes order and being right, as you said.  He is the accuser of the brothers, and, as we are learning, his accusations were right, according to the law and all appearances of what seemed right at the time. But envy was found in his heart, and that envy darkened his heart to think he was doing what was pleasing to God.  But God was just using him for his purpose to get done what he wanted done for his Son and all that would come after him.

    I could imagine the anger satan felt when the son came back to heaven, and satan found out who the Son of god was.  My!

    I have noticed in anyone who has envy, that they also have a time of great anger when they don’t get their way.  “Woe to inhabitants of the earth of the earth and of the sea!  for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time.”

    John, I love what we have been learning about the father and the Son and the knowledge that God is sending down to us to help us to know him as he is.  I love God’s life.

    Stuart
    ===========

    Amen, Stuart!  What a fool Satan turned out to be, and how wise God proved to be!  Our God is great!

    Pastor John

  • the devil and Satan

     

    John,

    I had some thoughts on the devil sinning from the beginning (1Jn. 3:8) and Satan being perfect from the day he was created until iniquity was found in him (Ezek. 28).   Looks like two different beings.   When I was looking up some Scriptures, I did notice that the devil isn’t mentioned until the New Testament like you said.   Just wonder when his beginning was.   And he was never perfect in his ways if he sinned from the beginning.

    Sarah

    ps.   one thought sure does lead to another..
    ============

    Yes, it surely does.  But this thought is not where the gold is.
    I have met people who teach that the devil is a separate being from Satan, but that is not the case.  John tells us plainly that the devil is Satan in Revelation 12:9.

    But keep thinking on these things!  Every gold prospector in history has dug where the gold was not before he discovered where it was.

    jdc

  • The Son of God

    How about this?  😎  I was looking up scriptures on “The Son of God” and found this one.

    1John 3:8
    “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”

    So, Token and I did some research and looked up the word “manifested” in the Oxford English Dictionary and it said – to reveal itself as existing or operative . . . . Token says “in service”  😎

    How many things are we going to find now that the Lord has opened our eyes to the truth about the Father and the Son, as we go through the Bible, that have been there the whole time and we didn’t know what they meant or at least the extent of it?  It’s exciting to think about them…reminds me of this scripture, which is my favorite:

    “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” – Phillipians 4:8

    These things are altogether lovely to me!  😎
    Amy

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