NUMBERS 23:19
As I look back to the day still fresh in my memory when the Lord God revealed Himself to me in a most undeniable way, I become ever more aware of the life of His Word. It is rare, while reading the Holy Word of God, that I do not see something in His Word which does not directly apply to the events leading up to, or after the in-filling of the Holy Spirit. And yet, there is always more to be learned. I wish that I could say, looking back over the course of the year, I never failed to put God first in everything, but that wouldn't be true. However, one of the things I am most thankful for is a TV station originating out of the U.K. now offered on Direct TV named "GOD TV". I am thankful because of the speakers which are periodically shown who have been given, by the Holy Spirit, an understanding of God in areas where I have only scratched the surface. One of those speakers brought home to me just how much God really loves his creation, man. If you ever have an opportunity to catch a program entitled "The Father's Love", I highly recommend you take the time to watch. It is a real eye-opener. One of the things I took away from the program was the fact that even when we fail to put God first in everything every time, He still loves us.
My last letter would have been even longer than I am prone to write had I written about one experience which I had this year. A couple of years ago, there was a guest minister on Benny Hinn's show called "This Is Your Day" which stated that if a person would make their best offering to the Lord in the first part of the year certain blessings would come forth from the Lord throughout the rest of the year. Now I'm pretty sure there are those who claim to come in the name of the Lord and say some things which are essentially a type of pandering to further their own ministries, but I believe the majority are honest in their understanding of God's Word when they proclaim such things. I, however, wasn't sure whether or not what was being stated was true even when certain scriptures were given. To make a long story short, last year I sent an offering to a different organization, and I was blessed.
There are two scriptures which I'm going to give reference to before proceeding: Hebrews 11:1 and 2nd Corinthians 1:20. Now I knew that the principle of making the best offering one could give in the beginning months of the year works because it worked the year before. So this year, I saved all of the first fruits of my work on the side after tithing on it in the first two months of '06. When March came around, I had almost all the money saved back which I intended to sow into the kingdom of God.
One Tuesday morning, in the early part of March, I was watching a program sponsored by Marilyn Hickey Ministries. I don't remember exactly what it was she was teaching about, but during the program, the Lord spoke to me and told me to wait one week before sowing the offering which I had set aside. I had been praying for the Lord to show me where to sow my offering. Everyday I watched the calendar, anticipating each day to whom the Lord desired me to send the offering to. Seven days came and went, and I still didn't have a sure word from the Lord. So, knowing the women of the church which I currently attend were meeting that morning for prayer, I went to church seeking direction. When I arrived, I explained the situation and asked for prayer. The women gathered around me, laid hands upon me, and prayed that the Lord would give me direction. I waited a few minutes, but still no answer. So I thanked them and went home.
When I got home, I seated myself on the couch. Just as I began to ask the Lord why He had me wait a week and still had no answer, a name came to me. I knew it was God, and I knew exactly to whom I was to send the offering. Just one problem, I didn't have an address. It wasn't a TV ministry this time. It was a missionary, and I had no idea how to get a hold of him. So now I have a name, but no address. Back to seeking. I spoke to a person who should have the information, and they said they would get an address for me. I waited another week. During that particular week, I learned two different people were in a financial strait of one sort or another. Both of these people I had been actively praying for (and still do). But the Lord had not mentioned them by name, and I felt that I should be faithful to whom God had instructed me to give. As it turned out, the Lord met both of their needs better in the long run than if I had chosen to help them in the short term. A week went by and still no address. So I asked another person for help. I have to admit that I was a bit irritated because in the first place, I don't like to let anyone know anything when it comes to sowing into the Kingdom of God based on certain scriptures. Secondly, now two people knew I was looking for an address of a certain missionary. Even though I never told either one why I wanted the address (it is a bit difficult to ask someone for something and still try to be vague about the reasons without coming right out and saying, "I need such and such, and I can't tell you why.").
The next Sunday, almost two weeks after the Lord had given me a name, the second person came through with the information. On my next day off, I got a money order, stuck it into and envelope with a short letter of explanation (and yes, it was difficult to be short and to the point), and mailed it. After returning from the drop-box I sat down on the couch just before noon. I said a prayer thanking the Lord for giving me the opportunity to follow through with His instructions. Ever so quietly the Lord spoke to me and said, "I will bless you". The Lord's voice humbled me to tears.
By the middle of April, about one month after the Lord told me to wait a week, I was finally able to send the offering. I didn't really notice anything immediately happen after I had sent the offering as in the past. But I knew what I had heard, and I was sure the Lord's Word would come to pass. May, June, July, and August all went by without anything substantial happening. Oh, there were many other things which happened like the passion to share Jesus with others after the death of the thirty-eight year old woman.
And then there was the day I was splitting wood this last summer, and a piece of debris lodged itself in my eye. It wasn't such that I felt like seeking medical assistance, but it was, never-the-less, quite an irritant. I tried an eyewash to no avail. Then a shower later because it was on a Wednesday, and I try to go to church early on Wednesday to pray, but the shower directly into the eye didn't work either. After the shower, the piece of debris still in my eye, I said quietly, "I'm not going to stay home, I am going to go to church." On the way to church, I began to think about a girl for whom I had been praying for awhile. She is incredibly attractive which poses some very obvious problems for my own flesh. After pulling into the church parking lot and exiting my vehicle, the thoughts of the young woman still on my mind, I said, "It is under the blood of Jesus," and stopped thinking about her. Just before I reached the door to walk inside the church, I suddenly realized the irritation in my eye was gone.
Just after the first of September, the manager of the store where I work told me that corporate was going to be sponsoring a motivational course at their main office. The course was for store managers and upper management. He said he was going to have to schedule me to work the night shift so the assistant manager could work his day shift while he was attending the course. For seven weeks, I worked every Wednesday night in addition to my regularly scheduled hours. That was a noticeable blessing! But it didn't end there. Two weeks after the course had ended, the manager took a week off for vacation; more overtime. On those days when it looked like there were going to be shortages in my income, I remembered the words which the Lord had spoken to me, "I will bless you." I didn't know how, and I didn't know when, but I knew the Lord would. Praise God, did He ever bless me!
There was one other event which was similar to the circumstances of which I just spoke. This past summer, after receiving my paycheck, the Lord spoke to me and said, "Give an extra $20 in your tithe, and I will bless you." Now that particular week was one of those which was already going to be tight even after my normal tithe which is just a little over ten percent. But I also knew what I had heard from God, and I did not want to be faithless. So I gave the extra money. Two days after I gave my tithe, a man came in where I work and asked me to mow his yard. I've been mowing his yard for two years now, but he has one of those yards which doesn't need to be mowed very often. So on my day off, I went over and mowed his yard. Before I had finished, his neighbor across the street came over and asked me how much I would charge him to mow his yard. I went over and looked at it and told him $15 (it was a small yard, about a half an hour of work). I finished the first one, and then began to work on the neighbor's yard. Before I finished that one, a woman who was a real estate agent asked me how much I would charge to mow a yard two doors down from the second customer's yard. I told her $15. Later, when I finally had the third yard done the next day, I called the woman to let her know the yard was finished and stated that if she wanted it done in the future it would be more because I had miscalculated the amount of work needed to make the yard presentable to prospective buyers. She gave me a $25 for the work. I doubled the money I gave over the normal amount of my bi-weekly tithe. And, as it so happened, I didn't need any of the extra money because the first yard took care of the extra I would have needed for the week. So I took the extra $40 and sowed it into another ministry.
It has been a wonderful year. I can't wait to see where God is going to lead me in the one to come! All the promises of God are yes, and amen.
Before I sign off on this one, I'd like to recommend a great book I received by a brother in Christ whom I only see once a year. The book is title, "Heaven Is So Real!" by Choo Thomas. The ISBN # is 1-59185-789-9 and can be purchased by contacting Strang Communications at 407-333-0600. It was written by a woman whom the Lord visited over the course of several years. In the book she states that the Lord showed her what awaits those who have confessed Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. She is really honest in the book even going so far as to admit that she didn't know why the Lord had chosen her to write the book. I know the book will bless you. I ordered three copies after reading the book and gave them away. I've recently ordered another five copies with the intention of doing the same.
Because of the manner in which I received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, I find myself particularly blessed by those Christian TV programs which are hosted by those which have received certain gifts of the Holy Spirit as spoken of by Paul in 1st Corinthians chapter 12. Two programs which I particularly love are "Its Supernatural" hosted by Sid Roth (www.sidroth.org) which is shown on the Daystar channel on Direct TV on Monday mornings, and "The Prophetic Whisper" hosted by Aquilla Nash on TBN on Direct TV on Friday mornings.
"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Thank you, Jesus.
Mike |
