My God is for me not against me

 My God adores me intensely 

  He's in love with me

 Most assuredly 

 He won't let me be

 thankfully 

 My God is a jealous God -

 Jealous for my time and attention 

 He desires me

 To continually 

 desire Him  -

 Which is my intention-

 Oh my soul!

 Do not cease to follow

 The One who loves and cares so

 deeply for you

 He only has your best interests at heart

 So fully surrender  - set yourself apart

 Don't lend Him your love

 give it to Him

 to treasure and be full of

Part three

 

Oh it cannot be understated how important the Holy Spirit is to our walk with God  - for he is the Spirit of Truth and our only source for truth in this world  - but all who receive Him I will in no wise cast out - saith The Lord, for they shall know Me and shall be My witnesses even unto the end of the ages  - they shall be My heralds of a new dawn that will glorify My Father as never before! Their light shall shine forever and darkness will not overcome them. They are My Father's testimony and they are Mine and I will never leave them or forsake them -  by My Spirit, saith The Lord - they shall know the truth and the truth shall set them - and all who receive them  - forever free. Howbeit when He  - the Spirit of Truth is come -  He will guide you into all TRUTH  -  for He shall not speak of Himself - but whatsoever He shall hear - that shall He speak  - and He will show you things to come.

See! Even the Holy Spirit does not speak of Himself  - does not seek glory for Himself  - See! It is by His Spirit abiding in me - and I abiding in Him - that I can write as I've done, these last 33 years  - and speak what I have spoken - to hundreds of people around the world  - it is by HIS SPIRIT  that I am even writing at this moment  - and thank God He is too stubborn to let go of me.

Ok  - at the exact moment i wrote that last word - a huge moth flew past me as I sat at my desk at the English Village i worked at in South Korea, so i grabbed a cup, trying to cstch him, so i could set him free, but he was flitting about too wildly - I couldn't catch him so I said "Be still in Jesus' name!" and immediately he stopped flitting about and landed on the floor - as still as can be. I took my paper cup and covered him, then i slid a piece of paper over the top - he's going crazy, he thinks his death is imminent,  but i took him to a window, opened it wide, and set him free. He flew right back into my room! This time flying even crazier than before! Wildly flitting about- so again i said - Please be still in Jesus' name! I'm trying to save you! Again he immediately calmed down, lands on my bed, completely still  - again I caught him and set him free.

Moths are attracted to light, I'm told. I think this incident is a prophecy  - I think God is saying to all who are " attracted to the Light" of this world, to all who are drawn to Him  - let Me capture you - let Me capture your heart  - don't struggle so hard against the yoke I put on you - it's only for your good  - and when I release you back into the darkness  -  go, My child, for the light you now carry within you  - the witness of ME - is desperately needed in the thick darkness that covers the hearts of men throughout this world - Go  - for I go with you  - take heed to My ways and My words and I will fill your mouth with them and I will use you to glorify Me and by doing so - you will receive the honor that comes from Me alone. Do not fear the darkness  - though the darkness fears you  - love them until the end: though tgey seek to kill you and extinguish the light as they did me  - forgive them for your Father has forgiven you your trespasses; and I will be with you even unto the ends of the earth, My disciples,  whom I love dearly and sincerely. 

A second moth was on the screen and he too was set free - sent into the darkness  - to bring others to the light.

We must go  - we must pierce the darkness  - we must continue to gather around the Light - going without to bring others within. Love won another.

Apostle Christopher Michael Tripp 

Part Two

 

How terrible it is to spend our precious short life seeking glory for ourselves  - not He who sent us! How tragic to seek the honor that comes from men: from flesh! Jesus said "I receive not honor from men" and neither should we! It will poison us  - and tempt us to take pride in ourselves  - when our hearts should continually lift this up to God: we are unworthy servants simply doing as we're told.   "How can you believe,  which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?" He was speaking to leadership but His words resonate today. All who seek honour for themselves are not believers in God or His kingdom!  Who did God honour? The humble and the faithful  - the widow who gave her tiny offering  - yet it was all she had. The Centurion who said merely give the command and my servant will be healed. Peter - who received revelation directly from his Father in Heaven. "Blessed are you Simon bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you!" Oh how often are doctrines shared in churches across the land that originated in flesh and blood! Oh how God loves and responds to a humble heart, seeking no glory for themselves  - seeking only to glorify the Father. "If i honour myself,  my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me - of whom you say He is your God yet you have not known Him but i know Him". This is my testimony and the testimony of all who know and follow Christ- we will stand before the Pharisees of our day - those in leadership who say they're believers but are not - those who belong to the "Synagogue of Satan" - we will testify  - I know the God whom you say you know but do not  - "if I should say, I know Him not - I shall be a liar like unto you  - but I know Him and keep His sayings". And how did they respond to these words the Lord spoke to them? And how will they respond to us when we speak them? "THEN TOOK THEY UP STONES TO CAST AT HIM  - but Jesus hid Himself,  and went out of the Temple,  going through the midst of them, and so passed by". And so, today. Today, they still wish to kill the Lord Jesus, Christ,  and whoever belongs to Him; and today JESUS IS HIDING HIMSELF FROM THEM, and He is leaving their Temples (churches) - passing right through their midst and they don't even know it! 

How often has Jesus passed by them and they didn't recognize Him!  How often has He appeared in their midst in precious men and women of God - sent to speak truth, yet not recognized or heard, but if heard, stones picked up from their stony hearts with murderous intent? For they hate the Truth and all who speak it - and therefore they've committed murder in their hearts - choosing the X instead of the O - because that's what the crowd chose! And I will also say to them - you denominational leaders, and all others who choose pride over humility  - yes, i will say to you - "He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has One that judges him  - for he that rejects me, rejects him that stem me - for i have not spoken of myself  - I have not spoken from my own understanding  -  I have not sought glory and honour for myself  -  but I have spoken of fhe Father which sent me  - He gave me a commandment  - what I should say and what I should speak and what I should do - As God's apostle,  chosen from birth - I humbly say - "whatever i speak, even as The Father says unto me  - so i speak". And how is it possible that I - a man  - can speak (or write) only as i am inspired by The Father to do so? How can I speak only what i hear Him say? As His holy oracle? Because it is HIS WILL! Because Jesus testified I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. I will pray to The Father and He will give you another Comforter - that He may abide with you forever  - even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive  - because it seeketh Him not, neither knoweth Him, but YOU KNOW HIM! Hallelujah! FOR HE DWELLETH WITH YOU AND SHALL BE IN YOU!

Part three coming soon...

 I have a game I used to play with my students. They like it partly because they get to get up and move around.  It's called the O/X quiz. It's very simple.  I ask them a question.  Actually,  I tell them a fact  - they must decide  - is it true or false? O is true, X is false - those who believe  it's true must go to the left side of the room - those who believe it's false  - move to the right. Those who get it wrong  must sit down.  Last student standing  is the winner and gets a prize. The funny thing is how easily persuaded they are - they can be so easily convinced that the true answer is false or that the false answer is true. Often, they really don't  know the answer - so they listen to their friends  who also don't know the answer.  And they get it wrong. Often. And when a student does know the correct answer,  the other's won't listen to him, often. 

So, I thought - how like the world! It's just a silly trivia game in my classroom  - all that's at stake is a piece of candy - but what of the Truth according to the Word of God? The truth that can save a man's soul? How often do people listen to anybody who has an opinion,  and is willing to state it - wrong or right? How often do people ignore the ones who do know the Truth  - I mean they actually know the Truth Himself  - Jesus the Christ,  personally  - but they're ignored - while any Tom, Dick or Harry with a Bible and a degree is accepted as speaking Gospel truth. Jesus said what I think is a profound statement  - and a statement anyone who teaches The Bible or purports to be hearing from God must also say - He said,  in John 7:16  - "My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me" - Honestly,  I wish this with all my heart - after years of walking with the Spirit of the Living God - I've learned how to lean on Him - how to hear Him - when it comes to revelation and understanding of God's Word - and I do not ever wish to lean on my own and understanding  - or teach a single sentence  that is not from Him. Am I perfect? God no! But He is - and if I can yield myself to Him  - if I can submit to Him every moment I write or speak on his behalf,  then I will have fulfilled my calling. But I must also be just as submissive  to His Will when I'm not writing or speaking on His behalf.  Amen. 

"If any man do His Will  - he shall know of the doctrine  - whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself" What a great example Jesus set for us! One of great humility.  Jesus did not exalt Himself  but chose to exalt The Father ( who sent him). Jesus did the Father's will every day of His life - as should we  - yet, in church after church,  by the people and their leadership  - The Father's Will is ignored  - choosing instead their own will, their own understanding  of what pleases God - which usually is pleasing to them  - yet it's only when we learn to do His will  - in the moment  - that we can understand correct doctrine  - if it's from God or not. Devils and men both love to teach doctrine! But if we do not first learn His ways, and His will, we won't be able to correctly interpret His words. Our words will reveal who is on the throne of our hearts  - as will our actions.  He that speaketh of himself- seeketh his own glory  - Oh how abundant are those who exalt their own names before the people! So and so ministry.  They put their name on the church building  - they put it on the cover of books - people speak of them with pride and exalt them before others. God is often submitted to them not the other way around  - God and His Word are their servants so they can become famous, and live a nice, comfortable life  - and God's glory is nowhere to be found in their churches or their lives  "BUT HE THAT SEEKETH HIS HIS GLORY THAT SENT HIM, THE SAME IS TRUE, AND NO UNRIGHTEOUSNESS IS IN HIM".

Part two soon

  When Jesus cursed the Fig tree, he was cursing religion for it was fig leaves Adam and Eve used to cover themselves when they were hiding from God  - his response to that fruitless fig tree he encountered is his response to all the religions of man, including Christianity  - " let no fruit grow on you from henceforth forever"  for Religion is used by man to cover himself   - to hide himself from God's presence - to avoid intimacy with God - denying him the fruit he desires and deserves. We know God first and foremost as "our Father". Well, what is it that makes a man a father? First, intimacy with his bride, then the fruit of that intimacy  - children!  "HEREIN IS MY FATHER GLORIFIED  - THAT YOU BEAR MUCH FRUIT" (this "much fruit" Jesus is referring to does not necessarily mean from your spiritual loins  - it can also mean from your children and their children too. God looks at us like he looked at Abraham  - generationally). Religion keeps us impotent.  The Holy Spirit himself is the only genuine antidote to Religion  - the Holy Spirit leads us into an intimate relationship with The Father and The Son  - with The Father as his children, with The Son as his bride.

 There are two extremes to avoid in ministry - sharing love without truth and sharing truth without love.

I've seen ministries that are misguided in their attempts to share the love of God. They misunderstand God's love. Out of love, Jesus said "Repent or Perish" - indeed, it was the first message He ever preached. Along with the message, He demonstrated that the Kingdom of God was at hand - He showed them a better way, He didn't just point out their wrong  -  He pointed them to His right - His right way, His right lifestyle,  His right kingdom.  He never loved them without also speaking truth to them. If we merely pat people on the back or give them a meal and a hug  -  or even a roof over their heads, if we give them a shoulder to cry on  - a listening ear, telling them all the while "God loves you" or "God bless you" but we never share the truth with them - that God's love is there for them to deliver them from themselves  - from their own personal sin, then they'll split Hell wide open - because we didn't bring them to the Cross. We told them God loves them just the way they are  - but we didn't tell them God's love is a transforming force:  to change them from sinners to saints, from bastard children to true sons and daughters  - Real love is honest and truthful about our condition.  Real love tells a homosexual  - Repent or perish.  Real love tells an adulterer - Repent or perish.  Real love tells a sinner  - Repent or perish.  This message is the heartbeat of the Gospel.

But  - if we share truth with people without a deep, sincere love for them  - we misrepresent God and the Truth may harm them instead of help them. We must know what spirit we are ministering out of. Now abides in us, in our hearts, Faith, Hope and Love  - but the greatest of these is love. Without love - the truth of the Gospel becomes carnal and fleshly, not spiritual  - it condemns people instead of loving and forgiving them. Without love  - the Truth will not pierce their hearts, only their minds - and it is only with the heart that man can believe and be saved. Love smooths the rough edges of a person's sins - but does not ignore them. Love exposes them and covers them at the same time. Love gives them something better than their sin, something to forsake their sin for. The love of God is worth any price, any treasure  - it's worth giving our lives for! Without Divine Love, people  misinterpret Scripture  - "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth"  for example is God urging them not to overreact and kill someone who took your eye, He's demanding fairness, not Get Revenge!  The truth spoken in pride and arrogance will drive people further away from God, not nearer to Him.