Part Three

Anything God repeats in scripture is super important, something He really wants us to grasp and do. Let's now look at Col:3:16 - "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." Remember, the New Testament as we know it today was still being written then, it hadn't yet been compiled, so "The word of Christ" here is referring to words spoken to us personally by Christ himself dwelling in us richly by his spirit, refuting today's doctrine that says God only speaks to us through His written word. This scripture is very similar to Eph:5:19 but with a slight twist - it points out that when we freely let the Holy Spirit woo our hearts and tongues the result will be wisdom flowing through us, we will be taught one of another but wonderfully to me, it will be expressed in songs and poems.
How wonderful that God uses songs and poems to express Himself to and through us! Is it coincidence that Psalms is located in the exact center of the Bible? It's very heart, so to speak? Our lives should be filled with songs and poems from God to us and from us to God. Not to boast but to make a point - just after being filled with the Holy Spirit I began writing poems and songs as the Holy Spirit inspired me. Oh He gave me so many! I would (and still do) get so excited whenever He'd reveal something to me, a truth, an observation from His perspective, a personal love ode. So often I would take a truth revealed to me and put it in writing as a poem or a song. Every prophecy too has been recorded in writing. I now have over 15 journals filled with Holy Spirit inspired words. The point is - so can you, indeed, you should. He wrote you a book, purely out of love for you, why not write Him one in response? Keep a personal love journal from you to God. Open your heart wide to Him and He will fill it with words! Wonderful, beautiful words. Prophecies and poems and psalms and hymns and spiritual songs! Words of wisdom and words of knowledge and tongues and interpretations of tongues!
Gather now with others who are doing the same. Gather with men and women and children submitted to and walking in the Spirit! Then, when "everyone hath" it will be done decently and in order. Every word from every tongue will be given time to be shared in perfect synchronicity because it's all coming from Him. He is (should be) the Conductor of every meeting we have. We are his orchestra, the more instruments joined together in perfect harmony, the more glorious the sound. Occasionally, during a symphony, one instrument will rise above the rest, likewise a soloist during a grand symphony my go it alone, It's the multitude and great variety of instruments and the unique sound each one makes that makes each performance special. Likewise, in the meetings conducted by the Holy Spirit,  God may choose one voice to go solo, including guest sent by God to bless us, as when Paul was visiting Troas and was preaching till midnight in the upper room (wish I'd been there) and a young man named Eutychus fell asleep and fell out a third floor window and died and was immediately raised from the dead by Paul. This is a picture, a prophecy to our present generation, till now asleep, then dead to the Apostolic and Prophetic ministries of our day but soon to be quickly raised from spiritual slumber and death - to go forth and do God's bidding. NO MORE ONE MAN BANDS! NO MORE SOLO ACTS only! From hence forth, we are to break loose from Satan's subtle designs on us - we will no longer fulfill his will nor walk in his ways. No, we will follow the Holy Spirit's lead - we will fulfill God's will, we will learn of Him, His ways. We are all to become actively, not passively involved in Christ's ministry, to His precious bride, our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, for "everyone of you hath", amen and amen!

Part Two

In house meetings, it's entirely possible for everyone to contribute something, especially a psalm. Worship as God meant it to be, is an individual expression of our love and adoration for God, originating from each heart, expressed to all. It may be a spontaneous song or poem rising out of our hearts in the moment, or it may be a song or poem we conceived during the week but the point is, it came from us, not from a professional worship leader or even from a professional song writer. I love the songs written by professionals...many are anointed  and they may be incorporated into the worship but they should never replace the songs and poems coming from each heart present. In other words - worship is not to be turned over to a "leader", to one man but rather to the Holy Spirit. Anointed though the worship leader may be, talented though he may be, your a capella song fresh from your heart full of love for your God and you brethren, is more pleasing to God than the slickest, most professional song performed by a dozen of the finest musicians and singers.
I've prophesied hundreds of times, yet when I was at a meeting once, the Holy Spirit's presence was tangible, the anointing strong, really flowing and the Lord told me to stay quiet. Instead, he spoke through a newborn baby Christian and the word was - "I hear God saying I love you". Now that simple word was so pleasing to God, I could literally feel His joy because that young saint had the courage and obedient heart to listen to God and speak on His behalf - to edify and encourage the Body (not criticize or condemn). That simple "I love you" was so anointed! It was exactly what God wanted to say, hallelujah! I'm so glad I kept quiet. I'd much rather hear someone prophecy for the first time than hear myself.
Listen carefully to Paul in Eph:5:19 - "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." There it is again - "Your heart"! As I've said many times - without a heart to heart relationship with God, we won't be welcome in Heaven until Heaven is welcome in us.
I'm not entirely sure what the difference is between a psalm and a hymn but I suspect psalms are inspired by the Holy Spirit within us (or upon us as in David's case) while hymns originate in our spirit's and souls, while "spiritual songs" are spontaneous songs birthed by the union of our spirits and God's, from our hearts to our mouths. They are birthed and fully developed in that meeting's moment, as fresh as the first song sung on the first day of creation, rising out of the glorious union of God's spirit and ours, a bride and groom rejoicing in one another, edifying and nourishing and encouraging all who hear - joyfully drinking deeply from the wells of Salvation springing forth from each heart present.
Look closely at Paul's admonition "speaking to yourselves". This rarely happens in modern church services, except in those few moments before the service begins or after it ends, when people get a chance to say hello and goodbye, and they get a moment to catch up with each other but make no mistake - ministry is not to take place during these times - we're trained to let the Pastor and elders conduct all ministry from the pulpit. He may grant time in the service for the people to greet one another, he may grant time for the people to pray for each other, but he decides when and how long every aspect of the service takes place. How often have I seen sweet, beautiful worship, where God's presence is strong, interrupted by a Pastor eager to get to his sermon. The people certainly do not ever sing or speak "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" to one another. Part 3 coming soon...

Part One

We are told by Jesus to pray in private. We are also told to give in private (churches of course make both of these a public event), but what about worship? Paul gives us some illumination on the subject - In 1 Cor:14:26 he says "When ye come together, everyone of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation - let all things be done unto edifying".
Let's start with the last line of that verse - everything we say to one another, whenever we're together, should be said from a heart full of love. Every word should be deeply rooted in love - the fruit of our love for one another, so to speak. This way, when all things are done, they will edify and provide health to the Body, not sickness or disease.
Now notice - "everyone of you hath". A fully functioning, healthy body is one with all members, every cell, working in perfect harmony with each other, directed by the head (the head of every man is Christ), so, of course, churches ruled by Satan's deceptive, religious spirit do the opposite - "one man hath" a doctrine, a psalm, a revelation, etc. In most churches "no man hath" a tongue or a spur of the moment revelation from the Holy Spirit, or an interpretation but in the rare church where these are allowed, one man supervises and allows them, or judges them, as he sees fit. This man is the Pastor, who in 1 Cor:12: 28&29 isn't even mentioned! Here, it's speaking of who God himself sets in the Church - FIRST APOSTLES, SECOND PROPHETS, THIRD TEACHERS, then miracles, gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues, does this look like your typical modern day local Church? Of course it doesn't - indeed, your typical Satan led church in our day exalts the Pastor while excluding all of the above except Teacher, helps and perhaps governments, and even then, the Pastor doubles as the Teacher, typically. But I digress. My original point is this: in Satan's type of church, all ministry is bottle necked into one or two men, a Pastor and a Worship leader (whoever said we need to be led into worship anyway?). The entire focus of each meeting is on them, only they bring __________________ (fill in the blank) to each meeting. They choose the songs to sing before the meeting starts, leaving no room for the Holy Spirit to lead or inspire a song. They choose what teaching or revelation to share, etc. to impart in each meeting, again, leaving no room for the Holy Spirit to share: all ministry in the local church body comes from them. This is a very unhealthy body - only one or two members working. Try getting God's work done with one leg or one arm, for example, yet that's exactly what's happening in most churches today, to Satan's everlasting delight. "Every one hath" is nowhere to be found.
But, you say, it's impossible for everyone to share in a typical service - too many people! Exactly! God never meant for our fellowship with one another to be so large that we become just another face in the crowd, contributing nothing to the service but our money. He'd much rather we meet house to house, as the early church did, where space is limited, gatherings are relatively small (though I once participated in a house meeting in Estonia with over 50 people in attendance, a record at the time).

To be continued.....

One of Satan's greatest desires is to silence God. I heard a rumor to that effect - it said that God no longer speaks today as He did in days of old, except through his written word, what we refer to as the Holy Bible. They said He said all He will ever say to man is in the Bible and that's it - He personally speaks to no one today, they say. Yes, they say God, who continually spoke to men, from Adam to John the Revelator (except for 400 silent years), suddenly decided to shut up after the New Testament was finished and He never spoke to men again, despite the fact that the New Testament has many scriptures that refute this doctrine. Why urge us to covet the gift of prophecy, if that gift is no longer available to us?
Satan of course, will twist the true meaning of scripture to suit his purposes, laughing all the way to Hell as millions of people perish, believing his lies, that they cannot have a personal relationship with God, or if they do, He is mute, unwilling to communicate with them personally, leaving behind pastors and elders to communicate his desire for them personally. Church leadership has long desired to take the place of God in people's lives and who do you think originated that desire? And the first thing they must do to take over the role of God in the lives of people is silence God. This way, the people have no choice but to listen to God's special, chosen ones who are called by God to reveal His word and his will to them. No one can ever question their authority, therefor they cannot question their doctrine or teaching. It's a nifty set up....leaving no room for the people to hear from God for themselves...and if they do have something revealed to them by the Holy Spirit, it is not allowed to be shared...especially if it contradicts something the pastor is saying.....
So in conclusion, Yes, Jesus' sheep hear his voice, today and tomorrow and forevermore...yes, earnestly covet to prophecy....seek his voice for yourself and others....and he will speak to you directly, he will reveal mighty things to you that you know not....his words are spirit and they are life....rejoice oh beloved saint...for he desires to speak to you today! I encourage you to write down whatever he shares with you....if you have mature elders in your life that believe all saints can prophecy, then share what he is speaking with them....let them judge it.....many demons pretend to be the Holy Spirit....mimicking his voice....but in all honesty, if you are baptized in the Holy Spirit, you will know when he is speaking and when it is another.....so don't let fear stop you from prophecying....God is so faithful...if you open your mouth by faith, he will fill it with words.....amen.  

We're all terminally ill, with a sickness called sin. It's a disease of the heart, we're all dying from starting with our first breath and ending with our last.
Unless -
Our only hope, it's not confusin'
we all need a blood transfusion.
We are all desperately in need
of God's generosity.
We are all in need
of He who did bleed
for every precious soul ever born,
Jesus, our God forevermore....

Don't you realize death is unnatural?
We were never meant to die.
We've been designed by God to live forever.
Death only entered in to man's existence when we sinned, which is why Jesus had to come and remove the penalty for sin in our lives by taking our death upon himself, once and for all. It's all the answer to the question, if you had a time machine and could go back to any point in man's history, when would you go to? I would go to the moment Adam and Eve were about to bite that forbidden fruit and yell STOP! DON'T EAT THAT FRUIT!
The truth is, death has been defeated, we no longer have to abide in death forever, all that has to die is our flesh. Since all life originates with our God, then the very definition of death is to be separated from Him forever. Which is why our live's chief purpose and function is to be reunited with Him....amen. 

The festering wounds in our nation's soul did not just suddenly appear when Trump took office. They've been around for a long, long time, getting infected, inflamed, getting worse, not better. They were made much worse by Obama's eight years than by Trump's two.
Truthfully, our country is becoming more and more divided along clearer boundaries than ever before. Wrong believes it's right and they believe right is wrong and nothing we say or do can convict or convince them otherwise because it's a heart issue, not a mind issue. If intellectual discourse alone could free them from the madness gripping their hearts, we would have set them free long ago. Logic has absolutely nothing to do with their world view.

The churches, rather than accessing the hearts of our nation's citizens, have had little to no impact on the direction many in our nation are going in (hint - it's really hot there). So, until we are able to break down the wall of hate they've built around their hearts, the desire deep within to destroy themselves and our beloved USA will continue unabated. All we can really do is stand up to their hate with the genuine love of God...which of course will make them hate us all the more....but...perhaps some will be won over.....we must guard our own hearts from responding to them the way they respond to us...we must love and forgive, weapons against which Satan has no defense.....so if you do pray for our nation...pray for the hearts of the people to encounter Christ...in our hearts and on our tongues....and pray they will surrender to Him when they do.....Amen. 

Broken one -
Why are you so shocked and surprised
at the behavior of the children of the Father of lies?
Have I not told you of their cruelty before?
Have I not warned you in My Holy Word?
Do not despair nor fret over the evildoers -
for I will not forget My plans for your future,
for all you suffer, I suffer too,
for lo and behold my child, I am always with you.....