I Am

"And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." Exodus 3:14

hayah - translated "I Am"; means to be, to exist

"Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." John 8:58

egō eimi - translated "I am"; means I be or exist.

The following is an excerpt from Henry Law's "I AM that I AM" sermon.
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'I AM THAT I AM.' Here the first sound is eternity. Jesus, as God, here puts on eternity as His robe. He knows no past. He knows no future. He lives unmoved in one unmoving present. He stretches through all the ages which are gone and which are yet to come. His only bounds are immeasurable boundlessness. Before time was born, He is 'I AM THAT I AM.' When time shall have expired, He still is 'I AM THAT I AM.' If there had been the moment when His being dawned, His name would be, 'I am what I was not.' If there could be a moment when His being must have end, His name would be, 'I am what I shall not be.' But He is, 'I AM THAT I AM.' Thus He treads first and last beneath His feet. He sits on the unbroken circumference of existence, as He who ever was, and ever is, and ever shall be. Let thought fly back, until in weariness it faint; let it look onward until all vision fail; it ever finds Him the same 'I AM.'...

The Deception of Democracy

I used to work with a man who had served in the Special Forces of the United States.  He shared with me once how he and his team were on assignment in a certain foreign country at the very time when the then-current U.S. President was in a presidential address assuring the American citizens that we had no troops in that very country.

This is a small thing, but I share it because many people do not understand that much of what we hear regarding world events is a lie.  This should not come as a surprise as we know that the whole world lies in wickedness.  In fact, it is reported that 96% of the mainstream media is owned by just a handful of corporations, making it even easier to promote disinformation.

At a time when much of the world is taking sides about politics and kingdoms of men, the church needs to be focused on the Kingdom of our Lord.  Not only is His Kingdom not of this world, it is diametrically opposed to this world.  The following article by a sister in the Lord points out these distinctions and calls us to consider where our hope really lies.  God also brought to my mind recently the holy day Yom Kippur, which may be another reference for people on this topic.

God, Where Are You?

The following message is from Min. David Wilkerson.  It was written just for me...and maybe it was written just for you too.  :-)
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One night Jacob sat in an open field and had it out (wrestled) with the Lord: "God, how did I end up in this mess? You made such great promises to me. You told me You would guide me, keep me, fulfill Your plans in me. How could any of this be Your leading? What kind of covenant walk is this? Lord, I simply have no future" (see Genesis 32:24-26).

Now, you may reason to yourself, "Maybe Jacob didn't seek God about some of the choices he made. Maybe he acted out of his flesh.” Well, perhaps he did, but all that is beside the point. God could have intervened on Jacob's behalf at any time but He did not.

The fact is, we can have a contrite spirit and still have problems. You and your spouse may be going through a terrible trial. You have prayed, "Lord, I don't understand. I know my heart is right, and I'm walking with You, so why are You allowing this awful trial?"

He Hears

He Will Beautify the Meek with Salvation

Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me. Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.  Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul. Shall they escape by iniquity? In thine anger cast down the people, O God.

Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.

In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word.  In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?" Psalm 56:1- 13

Car Dream

When I did the video series on Sasha Fierce, God showed me how a car often symbolized going from one spiritual place to another.  Well, three days ago, I had a dream about being in a car that I am sharing here.  The very next morning after the dream, I typed it out as a draft post on the blog and entitled it "The Car Dream", but I didn't publish it as I was not sure whether it was just a message for me.

However, yesterday morning, I received announcement of a new art series from John the Baptist Artworks and I recommended one particular piece entitled "Don't Get Distracted".  There were some similar themes between my dream and Sis. Rebecca's, and after reading her testimony, I felt led to publish this post.

The Car Dream

My family was in a car and my husband was driving.  We started out on a highway, and as we drove, the car to the right of us started coming into our lane and almost ran us off of the road.  My husband quickly steered the car to the left to avoid a collision.  At first I thought that perhaps the driver of the other car simply hadn't seen us, but they were driving erratically & weaving across all lanes on the highway.  Several times, they almost ran off of the road into a ditch.

Signs of the Times

Artwork from jtbarts.com.  Please support this ministry
with your prayers and offerings.

A couple of times, by their gracious permission, we have featured art from John the Baptist Artworks and invited you to support that ministry.  They have just come out with a new collection entitled Signs of the Times and I wanted to invite you to visit their website and review the inspired artwork on it.

There is much edification on their site if you have the time to peruse it, but one part of this latest series I particularly recommend is Don't Get Distracted.  Please Brothers and Sisters, at the very least read this one if you cannot read anymore right now.  It never ceases to amaze me how God speaks to and through His people and such is even more important now given the times in which we live.

I have also pasted below the introduction to this new series of work below.  Although Sis. Rebecca does not profess herself to be a teacher, she indeed has that gift.  I have no doubt that God has given her words for His people in this hour and I pray that we all have an ear to hear.

Not Falling Short of the Land of Promise

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." II Corinthians 3:18

The following is a collection of messages from Min. Alan Martin which I hope are a blessing to you.  Simply click on the title of each to hear it.

Hindrances to Beholding Him

• Beholding Jesus is what changes us from glory to glory in order to bear the image of Christ.
• This is why we all need a personal, spiritual, mystical vision of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Mystical referring to something beyond the natural, something mysterious (Colossians 1:27).
• You cannot make it to Heaven by simply having a sense of right & wrong, or of having had a vision of Christ at one time.
• We are to lay aside the sin nature (anything that belongs to the flesh) and put it to death.
• According to the word of God, some things which can hinder us from getting a clear vision of Christ are:

God's Love in Judgment

Being Ripe for Judgment

A Joyful 'toon Message.

The following message is from Pastor Zac Poonen entitled, "God Waits for Man’s Sin to Become Ripe for Judgment".
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The people of Canaan, whom God commanded to be killed, were being punished just like Sodom and Gomorrah was punished and like the world in Noah’s day was punished. The whole earth had become corrupt in Noah’s time with sexual sins (Gen.6:11). The Canaanites too were indulging in degrading sexual sins and Satan worship. And so “the land itself spewed them out”. (Leviticus 18:24, 25). Deuteronomy 9:4 and 18:10-12 give us clear reasons as to why God destroyed the Canaanites. Where there are polluting influences in any nation that defile and corrupt the land, the only thing to do is to punish such a nation by eliminating the people – lest their influence spread and corrupt others too.

A God of love destroys some people just like a kind doctor amputates a man’s foot when the gangrene in his foot is so severe that it threatens to destroy the whole body. If you saw a doctor sawing off somebody’s leg, and did not understand medicine, you would imagine that the doctor hated that man. But actually the opposite would have been true. The doctor was doing it in love. God also acts in love for the world when He cuts off certain people who would otherwise corrupt it. Wiping out the world’s population at the time of the flood was an act of love, so that the human race could be preserved without being totally controlled by demons (Gen.6:2 – where the “sons of God” refer to God’s creation - the angels who fell). The apostle Paul once smote a man with blindness because he was leading another person astray (Acts.13:8-12). I have heard of cases of people who were smitten dead by God because they opposed a revival. So what we read of in Joshua was not the murder of the Canaanites. It was surgery for the world.

Coming Before the King

Don't Let Familiarity Breed Contempt

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16

We are told in Scripture that - through Christ - we can come boldly before God, even into His very presence because the veil that separated the Holy of Holies has been rent (Matthew 27:51; II Corinthians 3:12-18).  The fact that we can now come boldly before the throne of grace does not mean however that we can come brazenly before the throne.

boldly: parrēsia (Greek); freedom in speaking, unreservedness in speech; free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance

brazen: shamelessly or with impudence; insolent, defiant, brass; made of brass

I mention this because I am not so sure that people perceive the difference.  It is appropriate that brazen means to be like "brass", for brass in Scripture is the equivalent of flesh; and that is what we often see on parade as being offerings for God in His Church.  This is why much of the Church has lost proper reverence for God.

Let us not mistake what has been done for us in Christ.  Through Jesus, that which was filthy, abominable, and antagonistic to God is cleansed by the covering of His blood to be able to stand before Him.  What Jesus has not accomplished is changing the nature of God so that He is now down at our level, allowing flesh to glory in His presence (I Corinthians 1:29).  Jesus does not make Himself our "home boy".  Rather, we are raised (from our lost & sin-filled place) to sit with Him in Heavenly places.  Jesus makes us acceptable for God; He hasn't made God acceptable of sin. That is a BIG difference.

A Bisexual Playground... UPDATED

The following article is written by a blogger who has given her life to, and is truly on fire for, the Lord.  I am posting her article here because she describes a phenomenon that I am just honestly not too familiar with, as this was not done in my day.  However, it seems to be very prevalent in these last days.

She describes how commonplace it has become for young girls to"joke" about being married to their girl friends, which they even call their "wives".  She tells the truth of how these activities are inspired by a lesbian spirit which attempts to normalize these behaviors in the minds of young people.

Recently, God enabled my family to see the reality of what this blogger describes through ministry to a young woman with similar experiences.  She had engaged in similar jesting in high school, which ultimately culminated in full-fledged lesbianism in college.  Yet this spirit is very deceptive.  Although the woman was participating in same-sex activities, she did not consider herself to be a lesbian.  Even when we prayed to cast out that spirit, she would cry out, "I am not a lesbian."  When Satan can mold you into his image and yet still blind your mind to the reality of what you have become, that is true deception.