A Year of Passionate Participation in God

God created us to be in an active participatory relationship.with Him He has an Enoch promise of Relationship with Him through Jesus for each of us. He has sent His Spirit to help us and His Word to build guide and instruct our relationship with Him. 

Genesis 5:22-25  Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God after the birth of Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.  23 So all the days of Enoch were 365 years.  24 And Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God; and he was not, for God took him [home with Him].

Hebrews. 11:5 (AMP) Because of faith Enoch was caught up and transferred to heaven, so that he did not have a glimpse of death; and he was not found, because God had translated him. For even before he was taken to heaven, he received testimony [still on record] that he had pleased and been satisfactory to God.† 6 But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]. 



Acts 17:28 (AMP) For in Him we live and move and have our being; as even some of your [own] poets have said, For we are also His offspring.

John 14:26 (AMP) But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you.


2 Tim. 3:15 (AMP) you have had a knowledge of and been acquainted with the sacred Writings, which are able to instruct you and give you the understanding for salvation which comes through faith in Christ Jesus [through the leaning of the entire human personality on God in Christ Jesus in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness].  16 Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action), 

Ask God to give you the full measure of the relationship with Him that He has for you as you pursue Him passionately this year!!

Your brother in Christ Wayne

MEDITATE ON GOD'S FAITHFULNESS

“To them that have their mind fettered to the body as a thief's foot is to a pair of stocks, it is hard to die."

Be careful, Christian, to practice this duty of meditation. Do not just chat with the promise in passing; but like Abraham with the angels, invite it to stay in your tent door so you can enjoy it fully. This is how saints through the centuries have caused their faith to triumph over the most tragic troubles. "My lover is like a sachet of myrrh lying between my breasts. He is like a bouquet of sweet henna blossoms
from the vineyards of En-gedi. In other words, when sorrows press in to cause fear she will spend the night meditating on the love and loneliness of Jesus, on His beauty and tenderness toward her. When you have learned to do this you will not feel the severity of affliction any more than you feel the bitter cold of a north wind as you wait by a glowing fireplace.

Julius Palmer, an English martyr, shared how he lifted his thoughts above suffering by heavenly meditation on God's "great and precious promises": "To them that have their mind fettered to the body as a thief's foot is to a pair of stocks, it is hard to die. But if any be able to separate his soul from his body, then by the help of God's Spirit, it is no more mastery for such a one than to drink this cup." A soul in heaven feels none of the struggles we have here on earth. Here, Christian, is the most glorious picture to be seen this side of heaven!

When a Christian can stand upon this Pisgah of meditation and look with the eye of faith across the panorama of the great and precious things which the faithful God has prepared for him, it is easy to turn from the world's love and rejection alike. But it is hard for some of us to get up there because we get tired after only a few steps of climbing towards God's mount. That is when we must call out, "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I." Who will lift us up to this holy hill of meditation, higher than the surging waves that dash upon us from beneath? God's Spirit will pick us up in His everlasting arms and take us there.”

Quoted material from, ”The Christian in Complete Armour Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare” by Gurnall and James S Bell. http://www.moodypublishers.com/pub_productDetail.aspx?id=41823&pid=53617

A HEART RESPONDS TO GOD'S COMMAND

“Scripture is a garden which grows a comforting promise for every sorrow.

It is not hard to smile at the promise, but does your countenance change to a frown when you remember that you need to obey God's command? As if He were some stern master who breaks the backs of His servants with heavy burdens! If only you could ignore a command now and then without giving up your claim to His promise! If the shoe fits, you have wandered away from the comforting lap of God's promises.

On the other hand, you may not be offended by the command at all, but by your own failure to obey perfectly. Although your foot may slip often, yet your heart cleaves to God's commands and will not let you lie where you fell, but you get up again, resolved to watch your step better. Know this, then, that your sincere respect for the commandment is ample evidence of your title to the promise.

When David confessed to his love for God's law he did not question his title to the promise: "I hate vain thoughts; but thy law do I love" Psalm 119:113. He did not say that he was free from vain thoughts but that he hated them. And he did not say that he fully kept the law but he loved it, even though he sometimes failed in total obedience. Because of the testimony which conscience gave concerning David's love for the law, his faith settled the question once for all: "You are my hiding place and my shield: I hope in your word" Psalm 119:114.

Gather and sort the promises into their different application. God does allow His children to walk through many different trials and temptations: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous Psalm 34:19. But Scripture is a garden, which grows a comforting promise for every sorrow. And a wise Christian gathers one of every kind and writes them down as a doctor keeps records of tried and proven prescriptions for diseases.”

Quoted material from, ”The Christian in Complete Armour Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare” by Gurnall and James S Bell. http://www.moodypublishers.com/pub_productDetail.aspx?id=41823&pid=53617

INTO THE FATHER'S ARMS

“When a believer holds the title to a promise proved true to his conscience from Scripture, he will not easily be wrangled out of his comfort.

Know your right to God's promises. This is the hinge on which the dispute between you and Satan will move in the day of trouble. How pathetic for a Christian to stand at the door of promise in the darkest night of affliction and be afraid to turn the knob! That is the very time when we should go right in and find shelter as a child runs into his father's arms. "Is. 26:20 (AMP) Come, my people, enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the [Lord’s] wrath is past.

When a believer holds the title to a promise proved true to his conscience from Scripture, he will not easily be wrangled out of his comfort. Job produced his evidence from heaven: "Job 27:5 (AMP) God forbid that I should justify you—saying you are right [in your accusations against me]; till I die, I will not put away my integrity from me.. Satan did his best to make Job tear it up, but his title was clear and Job knew it. Even when God seemed to disown him he testified before heaven and hell that he refused to let Satan dispute him out of his right: "Job 10:7 (AMP) Although You know that I am not wicked or guilty and that there is none who can deliver me out of Your hand? This assurance was what kept the chariot of his hope on its wheels along the rough road of suffering; it shook and rattled but nothing could overturn it.

The promises are not a pigpen for swine to root in; they are Christ's sheep walk for His flock to feed in. "Gal. 3:29 (AMP) And if you belong to Christ [are in Him Who is Abraham’s Seed], then you are Abraham’s offspring and [spiritual] heirs according to promise.. The promise is the joining which takes place only when the Person of Christ is taken in marriage. And faith is the grace by which the soul gives consent to accept Christ as the Gospel offers Him, a union called the receiving of Christ.”

Quoted material from, ”The Christian in Complete Armour Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare” by Gurnall and James S Bell. http://www.moodypublishers.com/pub_productDetail.aspx?id=41823&pid=53617

The War Over Reality

Francis Frangipane:

The War Over Reality

The Principle of Displacement

"Then war broke out in Heaven; Michael and his angels went forth to battle with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought. But they were defeated, and there was no room found for them in Heaven any longer" (Revelation 12:7-8 AMP).

Notice the phrase, "there was no room...for them in Heaven."The war against principalities involves displacement: 

Christ filling the spiritual territories once held by satan.

This war in Heaven is difficult for us to comprehend. How do angels and demons, beings who do not die from wounds, wage war? With what do they do battle? And how do they conquer one another? Without exceeding the bounds of our knowledge, we can safely say this: All spiritual warfare is waged over one essential question: Who will control reality on earth, Heaven or Hell?

When it comes to angelic and demonic warfare, the battle rests not in physical weaponry but in the power of agreement between mankind and the spirit realm. We read in Ephesians 6 (NKJV) that "principalities" and "powers" occupy the "heavenly places" (verse 12). But we read in Ephesians 1:10 that it is the Father's expressed purpose to sum up all things in Christ, "things in the heavens and things on the earth."

Ephesians 3:10 reveals God's glorious plan, that "through the Church" God has purposed to make known His manifold wisdom to the principalities and powers "in the heavenly places." You see, as the Body of Christ on earth agrees with its Head in Heaven, the Spirit of Christ Himself displaces the powers of darkness in the heavenly places.

In other words, when the Church on earth is aggressive in its agreement with the will and Word of God, then the presence of God increases in the spiritual realm, proportionally displacing the influence of Hell on earth. Shortly thereafter, manifesting in the world of men, we see revivals, healings and miracles. But when the Church is passive, indifferent or carnal, the powers of Hell increase their rule over the affairs of men: marriages break up, crime increases, and wantonness becomes unbridled. We must see that our prayers, attitudes, and agreement with God are an integral part of establishing the reality of the Kingdom of God on earth!

The Devil Is a Master Illusionist

Satan is unmasked in Scripture as "a liar and the father of lies"(John 8:44). His realm of operation is the spirit world that immediately surrounds and blankets the consciousness of mankind. This realm is known as the "heavenly places" in the Bible (Ephesians 6:12). From this spiritual realm satan works to corrupt and control the mind of man through illusions built from mankind's carnal desires and fears. But the power of the lie is not merely the speaking of falsehoods, nor is it that this world is an illusion. The lie of the enemy appears most powerfully when men believe that this world, as it is, is the only world we can live in. The truth is, of course, that God is establishing His Kingdom, and ultimately, every other reality will submit to and be ruled by that Kingdom! (See Hebrews 12:26-28; Revelation 11:15.)

The weapon God has given us to combat the lies of the enemy is the Word of God, which the Scriptures refer to as the "sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17). Jesus said His words "are spirit and are life" (John 6:63), which is to say that the substance or meaning in Christ's words represents an actual reality: the living Spirit of the Kingdom of God.

We should also recognize that the ancient Greeks, in whose language the New Testament was written, had no word for "reality." To them "truth" and "reality" were the same essence. If we seek to experience the true work of the Holy Spirit, we should understand that the Spirit has been sent to establish the reality of God's Kingdom in the lives of Jesus' followers. Thus, as we become one with the Spirit of Truth, and as we fully embrace the Word of Truth, we are brought into the reality of God Himself!

This point is essential: in our war over who controls man's world, the singular weapon God has given the Church is His Spirit-empowered Word. The living Word of the Spirit is the truth.

Paul taught that spiritual warfare deals specifically with the"pulling down of strongholds." But what are those strongholds? They are lies the devil has sown into our thought-processes which, as we accepted and believed them, became reality to us. We do not fall in sin as much as we are seduced by it; every sin is cloaked in some measure of deception. But as these lies are uncovered and destroyed, as our thought-processes are freed from illusions, we will discover the blamelessness, perfection, and truth of Christ in us, the hope of glory (see Colossians 1:27).

To be successful in life, therefore, we must know the Word of God. For all things come into being through the Word. Yes, it is the Word made alive in our hearts, germinated by our faith, that wins the war over reality.

Adapted from The Three Battlegrounds, published by Arrow Publications, Inc.

Francis Frangipane

Ministries of Francis Frangipane
Email: francis1@frangipane.org

Francis Frangipane is the founder of River of Life Ministries in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and has traveled throughout the world ministering to thousands of pastors and intercessors from many backgrounds. Francis' heartfelt prayer is to see established in every city Christlike pastors and intercessors, united before God, revealing the love of Christ to their communities. Since 1985, he has written fourteen books plus a number of study booklets. Over the past decades, Francis has served on a number of other ministry boards. However, in recent years he has gradually resigned from these various boards. As of June 2009, he has also retired from his position as senior pastor of River of Life Ministries. In this more simplified life, Frangipane is devoting himself to prayer and the ministry of God's Word.

THE WELLS OF SALVATION

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“A new heart also will I give you" Ezekiel 36:26.

There is forgiveness with the Lord Jesus. No matter what the trouble, this truth brings comfort to saints. You know how a cool spring is welcomed in a parched desert. And when you recall what sweet refreshment you have had from God's wells of salvation you will cry out with David: "Psa. 119:93 (AMP) I will never forget Your precepts, [how can I?] for it is by them You have quickened me (granted me life). It is no surprise that Satan tries to stop your well of comfort; but it is more than tragic if he can persuade you to do it yourself.

As the veins in the body have arteries to bring them life, so precepts in the Word have promises to encourage and empower Christians to perform their vows to God. Is there a command to play? There is also a promise: "Rom. 8:26 (AMP) So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance.  Does God ask for your heart? The promise says, "Ezek. 36:23 (AMP) And I will vindicate the holiness of My great name and separate it for its holy purpose from all that defiles it—My name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them—and the nations will know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord [the Sovereign Ruler, Who calls forth loyalty and obedient service], when I shall be set apart by you and My holiness vindicated in you before their eyes and yours.  Does He require us to crucify the flesh? Not without His promise: "Rom. 6:14 (AMP) For sin shall not [any longer] exert dominion over you, since now you are not under Law [as slaves], but under grace [as subjects of God’s favor and mercy]. But to make this promise serve your need, you must humbly and boldly press it believingly at the throne of grace. What the precept commands, the prayer of faith begs and receives. In other words, first conquer heaven and then you do not need to fear overcoming hell.

Do not forget-- you are warring at God's expense, not your own. David was a military man who could handle one enemy as well as another, but he dared not promise himself success until he had heard from God: "Psa. 119:133 (AMP) Establish my steps and direct them by [means of] Your word; let not any iniquity have dominion over me.. But if you have decided to steal victory in your own strength, expect an overthrow. It will be a mercy, for defeat will bring humility with it but victory will increase your pride in your own strength.”

Quoted material from, ”The Christian in Complete Armour Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare” by Gurnall and James S Bell. http://www.moodypublishers.com/pub_productDetail.aspx?id=41823&pid=53617