GOD IS CALLING YOU

I have been a strong believer for 30 some years now. I believed what I believed and was always ready to give an answer. I love the Lord with all I know how. I was baptized in water and in the Holy Spirit. I even speak in tongues. God has used me to bring words of knowledge and prophecies and interpretation of tongues in various church services. The gifts of the spirit are not new to me.

Yet the following verses always bothered me.

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

I have also questioned for many years, why aren’t we seeing miracles in the church today like they did in the book of Acts? Where is the power?
I worried that I may be a Laodician - neither hot nor cold - so I prayed for many years asking God to give me back not only my first love - but a better love.

Some would say I back slid badly. I believe it was all part of God’s plan to bring me back to the beginning.

Something unbelievable and drastic has happened in my inner life.
God has been speaking to me so forcefully and telling me to seek HIM first and His righteousness and listen to NO man. Listen only to Father God. Seek his wisdom, his knowledge his guidance etc. and to try to tell others to do the same.

The time is too short and we must get right with God. Our outer man has been doing all the right things and going through all the motions, but our inner man is full of rotteness, dead man’s bones, and ideas we have gleaned from others, NOT from Father God himself. He is tired of it and wants his body to be cleansed from ALL the worldly influences it has subjected itself to.

His body today has a "form of Godliness" but where is the power? Where is the Victory? Where is the abundant life?

Please, somebody, tell me; WHY WHY WHY would any non believer even WANT to be a Christian today? What is so special about being a Christian? (Besides escaping Hell)

We have just as many if not more divorce in the church, we have Christians going to psychiatrists and counselors because they just can’t handle the stress of everyday life. We claim that God is love but act nothing like loving people. We care only about ourselves and our wants and needs. We beg for money to send to missions and build big beautiful building so we can sit comfortably and get our ears tickled. We have hundreds of so called "Christian" denominations because we can’t agree on the simplest things. And we judge. Boy do we judge! We think we know everything and our beliefs are the only RIGHT beliefs - AND WE CAN PROVE IT through Scripture.

God is sick and tired of us playing church and playing Christianity without really knowing what it is all about. He is calling out a people who are willing - truly willing - to lay down their lives for HIM - NO MATTER WHAT THE COSTS. That is His TRUE BODY.

I had (and continue) to go before God and repent of everything I have ever learned under any man's teaching. I had to give up all my preconceived ideas and it is a very hard thing to do. I had to let go and let God. I had to be willing to get to the place where I was willing to let go of EVERY SINGLE THING I have or have believed in, except for Jesus and the basics of salvation.

I had to be willing to let go of my family, friends, house, money - EVERYTHING and seek only Him and him alone. Did God give me a sound mind - yes, but I had to be willing to give that to him as well and all my ideas of what I should or shouldn’t do. Did God give me His word in the scriptures - yes, but I had to be willing to give that to him as well.

But what if people thought I was going off the deep end and was really going crazy? So what? I had to give those thoughts to God as well. Even if they put me in a mental institute, that is o.k. with me God as long as I have Jesus in my life. He is my master, my Lord, my redeemer, my Father, my lover, my friend, my all. He controls each and every aspect of my life. He knows what is best for me better than I do. He can take care of all my loved ones. He can supply any and all needs that may come my way. I had to let God out of the box I had put him in. I had to be willing to kneel at his feet and cry out to him with all my heart, mind, soul and strength. Then I had to be willing to wait for His reply. If that meant not moving from that place for days on end - so be it. Was I willing to do it for Him? How badly did I really want Him?

We give our lives to Christ and ask Him to become Lord and Saviour of our lives and we are born again. Old things pass away and all becomes new. Our lives change for a much better life. We are born into God’s family. Then somewhere along the line, we hit an age where we seem to know what is best and we take over the reigns of our life. We go to church for fellowship and begin to load our minds with the teachings of men. We may even check out the things they teach and find them in the Bible and what they teach may even be truth.

Did we ask God which church we should go to or if we should go to any ‘church’ at all.

How did the people in the book of Acts do it?
Are we doing it like they did?
Where are we told to build churches and get together and have men teach us?

You may tell me that God is sitting on the throne of your life and he is in complete control of everything.
Oh, is that so?
Let me ask you a few questions.

When was the last time someone was healed when your shadow passed over them?
How many people have you raised from the dead?
How many people have you laid hands on and they were healed?
Do you own a car or live in a house? How big is your house and how many bedrooms, bathrooms, etc.?
Do you have money in the bank?

I could go on but I am hoping that you get the idea.

Look at Christ’s life or the life of the Apostles. Does your life look anything like theirs? If not - you are missing the mark.

I am not saying that God cannot bless us and supply nice things for us. I am saying that our lives and everything we own is a reflection of Christ. If we have anything above and beyond our basic needs, we should be sharing it with other brothers and sisters in Christ. We should be going to God continually and asking Him what we should be doing with anything we have.

You might give to the church and to missions and that may be good - if God directed you to do it personally.

What about your neighbour, the homeless person on the street, the prostitute, etc.? (they are all our neighbours)
Did God tell us that they can supply their own needs or did he tell us to love our neighbour AS OURSELVES?

We may ask, "But God, what if they use the money I give them to drink or take drugs? " God will most likely tell you that it is His business and not yours.

The important thing is that you ask GOD. He will direct you, and yes, sometimes he may tell you to give that old bum on the corner $100.00. Only God knows where that person will spend eternity. So what, if God wants him to enjoy a beer or two before he spends eternity in hell. That is up to God. But what if that money really showed him that there is a loving God. We will not know this side of heaven.

A wise steward does what his master instructs, no matter how foolish it may seem to him.

We are to love the Lord our God with ALL our hearts, ALL our minds, ALL our souls, and ALL our strength and we are to love our neighbours AS ourselves. All means ALL.

Don’t take my word for it - Go directly to God. Do not leave his feet till you have the answers.

Are you willing to pray the HARD PRAYERS? Are you willing to be obedient? If not, I suggest you get rid of your Bible as it wouldn’t do you a bit of good - if God isn’t directing your reading.

I have changed some of the words in the following passages.

Phi 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the KNOWLEDGE of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have will willingly suffer the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Phi 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is according to men’s teachings, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Phi 3:10 That I may KNOW him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Phi 3:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Phi 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Phi 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Phi 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of THE HIGH CALLING of God in Christ Jesus.
Phi 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Phi 3:16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.

For examples of the kind of life we should be living you might want to read books about Smith Wigglesworth.

If this all seems like foolishness, try rereading 1 Cor. Chapter 1-3

Sorry all, but I really felt the need to preach.

God is still working on me and the prayers were very hard to do but so far it is more than worth it. I believe I was taken to the very presence of God in my spirit and thought I was going to die. But you know what? I didn't care. Just to be in His presence was....words cannot express. I am hearing his voice nearly every moment and carrying on conversations with him. I break into worship and crying steady. My heart is yearning for you dear family and friends. You helped me through many troubled times and I want so much to share this joy with you.

Please Go to Father God. He is waiting for you.