Archive for the ‘EAGLES- Those That Wait’ Category

Chapter 6 – Eagles Have A Mid-life Crisis Too

Posted: May 22, 2020 in EAGLES- Those That Wait
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Psalm 103:5, “Who satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s”

The verse above reveals a secret of the eagle’s power – it’s renewal. Unlike other birds, eagles molt in their old age and renew their feathers. With the renewal of feathers come a renewal of youth and energy.

Too many of us are allowing the enemy to beat us up when we feel faithless, weary and tired. But the Bible clearly states in Isaiah 40:30 in the Amplified Bible, “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted.”

The word “weary” means to be weary physically, to get tired, to get beat down, worn down in the soul (mind, will and emotions) from the enemy repeatedly coming against you and to grow powerless in spirit (the real you) from the repeated attacks.

People who have demanding professions have a regular extended period of rest.  Soldiers have R & R, teachers have holidays, missionaries have furlough. While these periods of rest are important, they do not promise strength. True rest and strength come from the Lord. Isaiah 40:29 promises me, “He gives power to the faith and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound]. (AMP)

There is nothing we can do to avoid getting weary and worn out. You will get worn out on a regular basis and the only way to avoid the weariness that destroys us is to spend time in the presence of God. The Bible gives us 26 vivid examples of eagles and one of my favorites is the example of renewing our strength from Isaiah 40:31.

No one seems to know exactly how the eagle regains youth. There are different legends and theories. Eagles live to be approximately 30-50 years old and halfway in their life span they go through a mid-life crisis. From different studies and teachers I have come upon these steps an eagle will take to renew their strength (In the parenthesis I have likened the eagle’s example to us in the stage we find ourselves needing renewed strength).

  1. The eagle is not as quick as he once was. Strong eagles have been measured at traveling 150 miles per hour during a dive. (You find yourself being exhausted from a normal day’s ministry or work. You stop soaring and start running in your own strength because you could not naturally understand God. He did not answer your prayer the way you thought He would. Then you stop running and start walking slower.)
  2. He is slower in flight. The average eagle should be able to catch a current and reach speeds of over 50 miles per hour. (The joy of the Lord is gone. You begin to sit towards the back of the Church, then you miss church services more and more.)
  3. His feathers are worn and they whistle as he dives for his prey. A bald eagle can see a rabbit moving from 1 mile away and when he is at an altitude of 984 feet over open country can spot prey over an area of 3 square miles. The eagle is created by God to be able to dive after the prey and quietly come upon them without any warning. As the feathers are worn they whistle and they are unable to hunt effectively. ( You find yourself speaking negative about your situation. Instead of creating with your mouth, you are creating an atmosphere for failure.)
  4. The wings become so weak and they spend most of their time in the valley. They end up walking and acting more and more like a turkey than an eagle. (You find yourself looking at everything as it is, not as God sees it. You lose hope. You are believing things are as bad as the local news claims. You forget God’s ability and limit Him.)
  5. The talons are not sharp anymore. He has trouble picking up things and in the process the prey gets away. (The revelation knowledge is not coming like it used to and you give up your Bible reading because you are not getting anything out of it.)
  6. There is calcification formed on his beak so he is not able to pick up and eat properly. (Discouragement and defeat are on the tip of your tongue on a constant basis. You are speaking doubt and defeat without realizing what you are doing)
  7. His nostrils fill with calcium and he cannot breathe sufficiently to clean off his feathers. There is a process that is called preening that an eagle goes through daily and the entire process takes about one hour. This is where the eagle daily cleans each feather through his mouth and exhales and breathes on it. As he breathes on each feather it is equivalent to a steam cleaning. The US National Parks Service states, “Because they rely on flight for their survival, bald eagles must spend a large part of their day preening over the 7,000 feathers.” An average wing has up to 1200 feathers each and this process restores the feathers from that former day’s activities. During this process there is a gland in his mouth that secretes an oily substance that enables him to soar during storms, and fly into any water without being dragged down. What a wonderful waterproofing method the Lord has given to the eagle. (You find yourself getting counsel and help from people instead of Holy Spirit. You begin to live on the revelation from other preachers and not getting any Rhema word from God by intimate fellowship and relationship)

The process of renewal takes approximately 40 days. The number 40 in the Bible is associated with probation, trial and chastisement. This is not punishment but the chastisement of sons, and of a covenant people. The following is the process of renewal they go through. (Remember, our process is in parenthesis)

  1. He seeks a cool stream to wash the mud off.  (Purposely set aside time for the Lord. Realize He is your only hope. Remember His faithfulness to cleanse you.)
  2. The eagle goes to a cave or preferably a high place, usually a rock. (Matthew 6:6, AMP – “But when you pray, to into your [most] private room, and closing the door, pray to your Father, Who is in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open.” This is the time only for you and God, no one else.)
  3. He gets as close to the sun as possible. (Turn your spiritual eyes upon Jesus. Focus all your energy – spirit, soul and body on Him. Call upon Him. Acknowledge Him for who He is, our Creator and our Redeemer. He is the author and the finisher of our faith.)
  4. He scratches his talons on the rock until they are nubs. (Self-denial, fasting. During times of functioning in our own strength we pick up bad habits, tendencies or mental strongholds. At this time we purposely put those down, deny them. To deny oneself is to purposely put the interest of the Kingdom of God first in every area of your life.)
  5. He breaks his beak off by hitting it on a rock. There is a new beak underneath that will not come out until the old one is gone. (Purposely setting your mouth to speak the Word of God, refusing to speak negative. Proverbs 18:21 in the Amplified Bible instructs us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life].”)
  6. He tears out his feathers one by one (full grown can have up to 7,000 feathers). He is not as concerned with this pain process as he is with the end result. He plucks the dried and useless feathers from their wings one by one until he is bald. (Forgive people who have hurt you, forgive yourself for your failures, break the power of negative words spoken by yourself or others, pulling out disappointments, acknowledging failure and putting them in the past, forgiveness for unfulfilled vows, times you have given place to the devil. Painfully pull them out one by one acknowledging each act of your sin and rebellion against God. Not only recognizing the, but immediately seek and receive forgiveness that only God can and will give.)
  7. When he is fresh, clean and naked he lies on the rock, facing the Sun “Spread Eagle” soaking up the Sun. (Rest in what He has already done for you. Meditate on who you are in Him. Let Him love you and speak to you. Let Jesus do the work, while you rest trusting Him.)
  8. Older, experienced eagles fly overhead and drop him fresh meat. Those older eagles have already gone through these tough times and know what he is going through. The younger eagles are excited to have  a chance and they hope will not come back so they can take their place. (Let someone spiritually mature know what you are going through so they can be praying for you. They have been there before and will not condemn, but pray for you.)

During this time many eagles give up and die. They are vulnerable to predators when their feathers are gone and they cannot fly. During this 40 day process the Sun is giving them renewed strength, their feathers are growing back young and strong, the new beak underneath is coming out and their talons are now strong and sharp again.

There is only so much that teaching, people, tapes, books and friends can do for us. They all have a vital role to play in our spiritual growth but can never take the place of spending time in the presence of God. Sometimes we need to just lay everything down before the Lord and be quiet.

During that time you are doing nothing, and God is doing the work that needs to be done. As He brings things to your remembrance, people you need to forgive, vows you have not fulfilled, words you have spoken out of turn, etc., pluck them out as the painful pulling out of feathers. This is the only way we will ever be able to fulfill what God has for us to do. The whistling of the feather is very much like the casualty covenants [1] we make with our words that bring disaster to our lives and cause us not soar like an eagle.

My friend Mickie Winborn was dying of cancer with no hope left. God showed her that she had made an evil agreement with the powers of the enemy’s will by the words she had spoken that had allowed disease to come upon her. Matthew 12:37 in the Amplified Bible says, “For by YOUR words you will be justified and acquitted, and by YOUR words you will be condemned and sentenced.” She was able to break the power of those words and is not a gifted author, intercessor and speaker; bringing hope and deliverance to thousands of people each year.

Those words we speak from the abundance of neglect, fear and unbelief cause us not to be able to win any victories. At this time, as we put a watch over our mouth, we will be as written in Psalm 103:5, “Who satisfies your mouth with GOOD things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” The words the Holy Spirit will bring to our remembrance will be words that bring life and not death.

As we wait upon the Lord, He will show us what to pick up and what to put down. Many of us have suffered from the results of too many ‘time wasters’ in our lives. Time wasters is a phrase that the Lord gave me when He was helping me reorganize my time to have more time for Him. Holy Spirit is to be our Guide, Teacher, Comforter, Strengthener and Helper and He is waiting for you to ask Him what to put down and what to pick up.

The majority of the time He will show you what you need to pick up is not a new hobby or something else to fill your hour, but time with your Father God. Time hearing from Him be most valuable for you and your family, your nation, your future. Time with God is never wasted. These are priceless gems that do not lay on the surface to be picked up quickly.

The following is an excerpt from a sermon given by Dr. Mark Corts: During the depression, there was a man by the name of Yates who lived in west Texas. He was not able to make enough money from his sheep ranch to pay for his mortgage. The bankers allowed him to stay on the ranch out of the goodness of their hearts. However, he was in danger of losing it. He had little or no money for food or clothing for his family. Like many others, he had to live on some kind of government subsidy. Everyday as he watched his sheep grazing he was no doubt gently troubled. How would he ever pay his bills? Was there an end in sight?

He grew very, very weary and was ready to walk away from it all. Then, a seismographic crew from an oil company came to his ranch. They told him there may be oil on his land and asked permission to drill a wildcat oil well. He signed a contract for them to do so. The first well came in at 80,000 barrels a day! Many subsequent wells were more than twice as large as that. In fact, thirty years later, one well was still producing 125,000 barrels of oil a day. His troubles were over. What was fascinating  is that he owned that oil the whole time he was weary and worried. He simply never tapped into what was rightfully his. [2]

Too many Christians are living on a limitless source of wisdom, resources, strength and energy but spend all their time running around with chickens instead of waiting to tap into the endless source of supply that comes from the Lord.

Psalm 78:41 speaks of how limited God, “Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.” They tempted God by expecting God to prove Himself constantly. Over and over the Bible tells us ‘the just shall live by faith’. It is God’s privilege to test man, but it is not man’s right to test God. (except in tithing)

Things that have been restored are generally stronger than the original.  He will use any failure, disappointment or heartache and turn it somehow to the good for you and those He puts in your path to strengthen.

Jesus knew that Peter was coming to a time that could make or break him. In Luke 22:31-32 Jesus says, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

[1} Breaking Casualty Covenants by Mickie Winborn, Harrison House Publishing

[2] Sermon by Dr. Mark Corts, July 30, 2000; Calvary Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, NC

 

Chapter 5 – The Waiting Room

Posted: May 21, 2020 in EAGLES- Those That Wait
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Isaiah 40:31 (AMPC) “But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.”

The illustration I was taught that stuck with me the most was waiting in the doctor’s office. Sickness can cause you to lose strength, be weary and faint. The text above likens us to eagles, as it does many times in the Bible. When eagles eat something poisonous, or something that makes them sick, they go to the highest rock and lay themselves flat (spread eagle) and allow the sun to soak the bad out of them. We need to learn from the eagle and spread ourselves prostrate before God when we are sick; waiting to receive a healing touch from the Son.

One day I was waiting in the doctor’s office to have an annual physical because of a new insurance carrier. A Coast Guardsman was also waiting and struck up a conversation with me. He said, “Do you see this book? I started it this morning at another clinic and have almost finished it waiting in three doctor’s offices.” It was almost 4:00 p.m. and he had been waiting in different offices since 8:00 a.m. that morning. What a waste of time for a valuable serviceman.

Several people I know have heard from God as to what their ailment was and He also gave them the answer without seeing a physician. One friend was suffering with allergies and the Lord spoke to her quietly one day to stop dairy products. She obeyed the Spirit of God and no longer suffered from those allergies.

Another friend had gone from doctor to doctor, bought different expensive medication and did not get any better. One day she was driving and crying out to the Lord for help. He spoke so sweetly to her that she was in menopause. She went to a natural health store and bought inexpensive natural supplements and improved greatly.

These are modern-day examples of one of my favorite New Testament miracles. Luke 8:43-48 tells us, “Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not get healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. And Jesus said, ‘Who touched me?’ When all denied it, Peter and those with Him said, ‘Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, Who touched Me?’ But Jesus said, ‘Someone touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.’ Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. And Jesus said to her, ‘Daughter, be of good cheer. Your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

Mark 5:25-34 tells the same story, but speaks of the outcome of the doctors as told in verse 26, “and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and no better, but rather grew worse.” I think Luke the physician was trying to be kind to his professional colleagues.’

Most Christians prove by their actions that they have more trust in doctors than they do in the Lord Jesus. They wait for hours in a doctor’s waiting room, followed most of the time by a long wait in the examining room, after which they hang on every word the doctor says as if he had the final answer.

How do they know if the doctor did not cheat on his exams? How do they know that possibly his mind is on the fight he just had with his wife or the malpractice suit he is involved in? No, they do what he says; fast when he tells them to fast, take pills that they do not know the long-term effects it will have on their body, expose themselves to hideous medical procedures, etc. Yet, if the Spirit of the Lord reveals the need to fast, they ignore His instructions and do their own thing.

God instituted a fast in the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. (Ex. 12:15-20; 13:3-10; Lev. 23:6-8; Num. 28:17-25; Deut. 16:3,4,8) They were to have no leaven (yeast) in their homes for a week. Nutritional doctors have proven that the fast of yeast in your body is good and will eliminate the cause of yeast infection and many allergies. Our Father God, who make us, knows what is best for us and knew this when He ordered the leaven fast in the first place. In the wilderness they were healthy because they ate what He said was good for them.

You will take time out of your working agenda and your employers will honor the needed time from work. But you will no schedule a space or duration to hear from God when He is your Creator. You may say, “I don’t have time to pray”, but you will take up to six hours out of your busy schedule to wait on the doctor.

One of the reasons it is hard to pray and wait on the Lord is because praying is spiritual. There is an opposite spiritual force that is doing everything possible to keep you out of the presence of God. The enemy does not care how much time or money you spend with doctors and medicine, but he gets very involved when you spend time with God because prayer is where the power comes into your life.

The scriptures show very plainly several times that the devil is your problem. Acts 10:38 tells us, “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”  In John 10:10 Jesus teaches us “The thief comes to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

In the Old Testament people always blamed good and bad on God, not knowing that they had an enemy. They believed  that everything that happened to them was consequences of what they did or what God was doing. Most of them only knew His acts, but those who knew God and spent time with Him knew His ways, what pleases Him, how He works, or His love. Psalm 103:7 tells us, “He made know His ways to Moses and His acts to the children of Israel.”

THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE

What do you do while you wait in the doctor’s office? You are aware of the need for an answer so you are listening for your name to be called and remembering all symptoms, etc. If you are having a problem with allergies, the doctor asks you to remember everything you have done, everything you have eaten and record them. Most diet plans succeed if the dieter records all he (she) has eaten, how they felt at the time, and time they ate. Remembering is a very big key to success in many areas.

Ecclesiastes 12:1 says, “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.'” Solomon advised us to make sure of our relationship with God while we were still young, before the evils of this life harden our hearts and we cannot hear God anymore.

Remembering God, thinking of Him and His goodness, remembering all He has done for you in the past keeps your heart soft and pliable. Then and only then can He work with you to carry out His plan in your life.

THE COURT ROOM

Several times in my prayer time, as I have gone into the time of waiting, I have sensed I have been in different waiting room or periods. One time I was in prayer after a week of neglect of quiet time with Him. In the quiet I sensed I was in a waiting room outside a court room, knowing I was guilty.

As I waited I remembered all the opportunities I had to be with the Lord, but went on doing what I thought was important or what I wanted to do. In the morning I had been rushed because of the load of the day, so I pressed into my day to get a head start on the tasks to make sure I got them all done. Then at the end of the day I was exhausted and wanted to unwind watching television.

I was remembering all these things during my waiting period of the one hour of prayer schedule. Needless to say, I was very ashamed of myself and felt great remorse. The next section of the hour is confession and I confessed this great sin of omission. Most people think that sin is only committing an act, murder, swearing, adultery, lying, cheating, etc., but the sins of omission would be not praying, not reading the Bible, not uniting with other believers, etc.

As I got into the courtroom and the Judge (God) asked “How do you plead?” All the while, the prosecutor, the accuser of the brethren (Satan) was accusing me. I turned to Jesus (my Advocate, defense attorney) and confessed my sin and asked for forgiveness according to I John 1:9.  Jesus then turned to the Judge and said, “Mary is not guilty, she pleads the Blood.”

That time of waiting and confession brought me into the realization of how our Bible is a whole book of law. God the Judge (Genesis 18:25), Satan the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10) and Jesus Christ our Advocate (I John 2:1). Covenant, testament, laws, redemption, plead, rights, privileges, adoption privileges, consequences are all legal terms. The best teaching on this subject is found in Billye Brim’s book on the Blood and the Glory. The chapter that deals with this issue is called “Pleading Our Case:Redeemed By The Blood”.

I felt secure in my forgiveness, not because of what I have done or not done, but because of what Jesus had already done for me. He has removed the curse which was attached to the Law and left the blessings.

Galatians 3:13-14 reveals our deliverance, “Christ has redeemed up from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

THE SECRET PLACE

During another prayer time I had the sense during the waiting period of waiting for a lover. The lovers had met at that same spot every day and then for a week one did not show up. I was the neglectful lover, and when I came into the time of waiting I wondered if my lover (Jesus) would show up or would I have to search for Him with all my heart according to Jeremiah 29:13, “And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

In the prayer segment that followed waiting, I confessed my unfaithfulness and God was so merciful to me to forgive me. I immediately felt the presence of God. Even if you are a prodigal son such as the parable in Luke 15:11-32 our Father is waiting and will rush to greet you with open arms when you turn back to Him. Instead of days of depression or hours of prayer. I confessed and immediately received the flooding of His love.

THE COUNSELOR’S OFFICE

When you need counsel in a matter, first wait on the Lord and meditate on Him being the best counselor you could ever get BEFORE you seek help from a marriage counselor, lawyer, psychiatrist, debt counselor, etc. There is nothing wrong with any of these, but as a Christian our first counsel should always be from God. Then follow directions as to what doctor or pathway of healing you should take.

Smith Wigglesworth made a bold statement, “I can see that the ministry of healing is going to get more difficult. It is always more difficult when you have to contend with unbelief. There are already too many remedies in which people put their trust. But I can see that it will get worse, until it will be hard to get people to believe at all. We have become such a drug-conscious society that, in many cases, the aspirin bottle is more important than the anointing bottle.”[1]

Isaiah 9:6 says, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders, and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Jesus encouraged His disciples as recorded in the gospel of John 14:6, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever.” (AMP) What a wonderful promise from Jesus!

[1] Albert Hibbert, Smith Wigglesworth, The Secret of His Power, 18th Printing (Tulsa, Harrison House) 90-91

Chapter 4 – Child, Don’t Get Ahead!

Posted: May 21, 2020 in EAGLES- Those That Wait
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Habakkuk 2:3, “For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come; it will not tarry.”

The second example the Holy Spirit used to enlighten me during my teachings from my Father God on waiting was a parent and a child.  During my quiet times I heard Him say to me clearly, “Wait, hold up, hide yourself in Me.” Children that run ahead of their parents could get run over, kidnapped or lost.

I was reminded of my sister-in-love needing immediate prayer support for her grandson. This is the story in her own words: (but I am going to change names)

“My son Joe and his wife Kay had moved from their house to an apartment as he was coming close to graduating from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. They had lived there about a month. It was a warm Spring evening and my son had ridden his bicycle to school to do some work. My daughter-in-law was pregnant with her third son and she had her little son in the stroller and her preschool son Josh on his bicycle and they set out for a walk.

Josh was riding in front of Kay when they came to a hill that turned at the bottom. He picked up speed as he went down the hill, rounded the corner and got out of Kay’s sight. When she came to the bottom he was nowhere to be seen. There was a squeaky chain on his bike that could be plainly heard if he was close by, but she heard no sound of it. She became frightened. There were several ways to go to the apartment. She looked one way and did not find him so she headed for home to call Joe.

Joe told her to call the police and he called me to pray. I in turn called others to pray with us. Meanwhile, Joe and his friend got into his car and headed for the apartment. By the time they arrived the police were there. Joe and his friend each took cars, and including the squad car went in search for Josh. One policeman stayed with Kay to get the information from her as to his age: 5 years old, what he was wearing, etc.

The policeman found him and he was pretty shaken up and crying. Interestingly, he had come back to the apartment and not found his mom there. He thought that she was lost, so he went to find her and in the process he got lost. There was a man in a yard that had seen him and saw that he was crying. The man said something to him but it only frightened Josh and he peddled faster.

The whole episode took about 45 minutes, but as you can imagine it seemed to us like an eternity. What wonderful words were the words, “We found him!” How we thank God, our Father, for keeping Josh safe from harm.”

Sadly, too many stories have not turned out this well and parents and children had to suffer for a lifetime as a result of children getting ahead of their parents.

TO RUSSIA WITH LOVE

When I was born again, July 4, 1982, God implanted the ‘knowing’ inside of me that I would minister on the streets of Russia. This was such a part of me that I knew it was true, just like I knew my name is Mary Bostrom. No one could cause me to doubt that. My husband continually told me God had not called him to go into the mission field and I was not going to go to the other part of the world without him. For nine years he was not in agreement and I did not have any open door or freedom to go.

In the fall of 1990 my former pastor, Pastor Al Scott who was residing in Colorado at the time, sent me literature regarding Trinity Broadcasting Network planning a mission tour to Russia and were enlisting volunteers to be part of this ministry experience. In Minnesota we did not get TBN on our cable network so I had no way of knowing about the trip.

I went to Ken again and expressed the need I felt within me to go to Russia, and if I did not go I would be out of the will of God. We were financially challenged at that time and Ken was struggling in his business. He said if I could find the money needed I could go to Russia. I was thrilled! Money was no problem with God. All I needed was my husband’s blessing. I knew God had called Ken to be my protection and He would not bless me if I was rebellious to that authority in our home. I believed God for every nickel and dime that came in for that trip and many friends helped me financially.

May of 1991 I was off to Russia, nine years after God called me. During that trip to Moscow, Kiev and Leningrad I had the most miraculous happenings I have ever had in my life. On the flight to Russia I did not know anyone and asked God to seat me next to unbelievers the whole flight. Between Minneapolis and New York I witnessed to a member of the Israeli consulate who was not a believer in Jehovah or Jesus. The anointing flowed from me as I shared with him how God had changed my life and the miracles I had witnessed. I know with every fiber in my being that he will never be the same and that seeds of salvation were planted inside him.

From New York to Helsinki, Finland I was seated by a Russian model. I had seen her in an interview on television the week before. God had set this up for her to hear the gospel. It turned out her father and mother were both in government in Leningrad, USSR. I won’t know until heaven how many people were reached from that airplane ministry.

In Kiev I preached on the streets and without knowing who they were, I ministered with the anointing to professors in the University who later corresponded with me when the communist government fell later that year.

On that trip I met Dorothy B. and Geraldine B. from Orange, Texas who played an important part in the next year in our going to Wisdom Bible Institute in Orange, Texas.

None of these things would have happened if I had not been obedient to wait for God’s perfect timing. If I had gone the first year God called me I would not have had the maturity of faith to weather the storm to bring it all to pass. My life would have been in extreme danger because of the hatred for the gospel in the USSR at that time.

When I went in 1991 the gospel was allowed to be preached freely for the first time in 70 years. Too many people feel called into ministry but do not wait for God’s perfect timing and become ship-wrecked.

THE MINISTRY OF THE DISCIPLES

After Jesus died and rose again, He breathed on them as recorded in John 20:22, “And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”. I believe this is when they were born again. Adam was just a lump of clay until the breath of the Living God was in him. Genesis 2:7 says in the Amplified Bible, “Then the Lord God breathed into his nostrils the breath of the spirit of life, and man became a living being.”

Jesus taught his remaining eleven disciples for forty days following His resurrection, gave them power and authority in the great commission of Mark 16:15-18 and Matthew 28:18-20. Yet in Luke 24:49 Jesus told them to “wait” until they were given power from on high. “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

Think about this for a moment with me. They had been born again, “on the job training” for 3 years, personally tutored by the Son of God Himself, given a very specific assignment and then told to ‘wait’?  To us this would sound like the devil himself trying to stop the work of God. We would fast and pray, kick down doors, rebuke the devil, and make a mess of everything all because we did not wait for the perfect timing.

But the disciples remembered they could do nothing without Him. Jesus had promised them in John 14:16 in His last teaching to the disciples that He was going away, but would send them another Helper. The Greek word for “another” is allos (al-loss); Strong’s #243; one besides another of the same kind. The word shows similarities but diversities of operation and ministries. Jesus’ use of allos for sending another comforter equals “one besides Me and in addition to Me but one just like Me. He will do in my absence what I would do if I were physically present with you.”

Jesus told the disciples this before He was crucified. They remembered this promise afterwards and understood that they would not have to do the assignment themselves.

The Gospel according to Luke was written by a Gentile physician named Luke who was also the author of the Book of Acts. Luke was a servant of the master Theophilus, and was giving an accurate accounting of the facts to him much like a reporter of today. In the Gospel of Luke he gave accounts of when Jesus was on the earth and in the Book of Acts he reported what followed after Jesus left the earth.

Taking this into account, we connect the end of Luke and the beginning of Acts. In Luke 24:49 Jesus gave this directive, “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry (wait) in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” In Acts 1:4-5 & 8 Jesus confirms His instructions, “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me;  for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’….But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Ten days following they were baptized in the Holy Spirit, as recorded in Acts 2, with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Peter (the one with the foot in his mouth most of the time, who wanted to do right but was not able to follow through, who denied Jesus three times) preached and 3,000 religious Jews were born again. That is the power of waiting for God’s perfect timing. If they had tried to do the great commission themselves in their own timing they would have failed. But because they waited for the power of the Holy Spirit they were able to carry on the work of the Lord.

EVEN JESUS WAITED

How about Jesus? At birth He was the Son of God, for thirty years we do not see or hear of Him doing any miracles. But at age thirty He was baptized in the River Jordan by His cousin John the Baptist and the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove.

Matthew’s account in 3:16 speaks of the “Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.” Mark 1:10 tells of “the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.” Luke’s account in 3:22 tells us, “And the Holy Spirit descended in the bodily form like a dove upon Him. In John 1:32, “And John bore witness saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.” All four gospels record that Jesus did nothing until He was anointed with power from on high, which was the Holy Spirit’s presence and power.

For three years Jesus did so many miracles, signs and wonders that all the books could not record them all. (John 21:25) Most ministers want to go to school for three years do the work of the ministry for thirty years and retire. We need to follow Jesus’ example and wait for God’s timing. Jesus was God in the flesh, yet it was recorded in John 5:19, “Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing in Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” This is a strong statement, the Son can do NOTHING by Himself! Why do we think we can do God’s work in our own strength and timing?

KING DAVID’S EXAMPLE

Another good example is David.We see in I Samuel 16:13 that David was anointed to be king. He was a shepherd boy and after he was anointed went back to his sheep because there already was a king, King Saul. Even if Saul had lost his anointing, the calling and the gifting of God is without repentance. (Romans 11:29) Saul had to carry out the duties of being a king without the anointing or power of God because of the following examples of resistance to God:

  • Not waiting for Samuel the priest to offer the sacrifice found in I Samuel 13
  • Building his own altar instead of waiting for Samuel in I Samuel 14:35 where he almost lost his son because of disobedience
  • The final sin of doing his own thing and keeping the best Amalekites in I Samuel 15

God is merciful and long suffering, but there is a time in leadership when God removes His anointing when rebellion and disobedience were displayed This is what happened to Saul and I hope this a good warning to every one of God’s servants.

Even if David had the anointing and power to be king, Saul remained in that position for the remainder of his forty year reign. David stepped into a full “duties and work” as a king over all Israel only after Saul died. David was anointed at approximately fifteen years of age and did not serve as king until he was thirty years of age.

RESPONSIBILITY OF A MENTOR

One of the major assignments of a mentor or spiritual teacher is to teach the disciple to wait. Proverbs 5:13 speaks of the rebellious attitude we are to shun, “I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, not inclined my ear to those who instructed me.”

I Corinthians 4:15 speaks of the need for mentors, “For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many (spiritual) fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” Spiritual fathers or mentors guide you in the walk of faith, teaching you from their mistakes and successes, shielding you for the mistakes that can cause you to lose your assignment or ministry that God has given you. With a spiritual leader tutoring you or actually home-schooling you, your achievement  will be built on  their foundation that they have building in Jesus Christ.

Let’s look at some examples of mentors or spiritual fathers:

  • Elijah and Elisha: Elijah has many students in his prophet’s school, but he had one that stuck so close to him that he received a double-portion of the anointing, Nothing was ever written of the remaining students of the Prophets school. 2 Kings 2
  • Jesus and John: John was the closest to Jesus and was the only disciple that did not leave Him at His greatest need, in the courts during Jesus’ trial. John called himself ‘the disciple Jesus loved’. He wrote the love books: the Gospel of John, letters 1-3 John and the Book of Revelation. He was so full of love that they could not kill him when they boiled him in oil. He learned that love walk from Jesus. Many of Jesus’ disciples were not good students, they were hearers and not doers.
  • Paul and Timothy: Paul called Timothy his son because he was a spiritual son in the ministry. We may declare many people we follow to be our spiritual leaders or fathers, but for a leader to say someone is their son in the faith is saying they truly followed their teachings, examples and disciplines.

Probably the most successful and rewarding thing I have done in the ministry is to mentor several women in the church Ken and I were assigned by God to serve for a ten year period. Some of them want what I have without going through what I did, but most of them were obedient and realized that I did nothing of myself. I am nothing in my self and everything I have ever achieved as a Christian was because of the obedience to what God has called me to do.

They have learned that there are no instant successes in this Christian walk and no easy formulas. Too many teachers are teaching that if you do some 1-2-3 formula then God will give you whatever you have asked. But if you have walked with God for any amount of time and have seen success, you know there is a series of many kinds of prayer, faith, obedience, etc.

Most of my failures are not because of lack of knowledge, but lack of obedience. Spiritual mentors will hold you accountable and positioned on the right course if you let them. I had one disciple that would not listen to her doctor, listen to her pastor and would acknowledge but not obey my teachings. That is plain rebellion and as a consequence I had to discontinue my personal guidance and pray from a distance. Sometimes that is hard to do, but love must be tough.

When a teacher has chosen to personally tutor a student, that student becomes very close and there is a spiritual connection. I will even grieve over them as I would my own children. Spiritual parents are given for the safety of the disciple and are to be honored and obeyed just as natural parents.

There is always a ditch to fall into with any truth and the trap for accountability is a movement from that past that was called “The Shepherding Movement.” This movement had its beginning in the United States in the early 1900’s when the Pentecostal movement began and within the Charismatic movement of the 1960’s.

This teaching was based on discipleship, accountability and teaching of the Word of God to new believers. This is definitely needed in the Body of Christ right now. A major problem arose when the people who were doing the instructing began to be the ultimate authority over the student, making family decisions for them and lording over them. Some oppose the amount of control exercised by shepherds over such a matter as the choice of mate and the decision to have children.

There is one Lord, and He is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is well able to lead and guide us into the whole truth. He spoke of the Holy Spirit in John 14:15, “the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

There is a great need today for mentors and I hope the true teachers and shepherds will step up and do this one-on-one work of the ministry.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 3 – Can Two Walk Together?

Posted: August 28, 2019 in EAGLES- Those That Wait
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The first example the Spirit of the Lord taught me about waiting was of two people walking together while talking. One of the two began walking faster and the other called out, “Wait!”  The only thing the first person could do was to turn around and wait.

This may seem like a very simple illustration, but this really did happen to King Saul. He was called, anointed, mightily used of God, and heard from God with the help of the prophet Samuel. He decided he could handle things himself.

I Samuel 13:8-14 tells the story, “Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. So Saul said, ‘Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.’ And he offered the burnt offering . Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. And Samuel said, ‘What have you done?’ Saul said, ‘When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, then I said, the Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord. Then I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.’

And Samuel said to Saul, ‘You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.’ The King James Version of verse 12 says “…….therefore I forced myself, and offered a burnt offering.”

Saul continued to do God’s work. Isaiah 10:27 says, “It shall come to pass in the last day that the burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.” The anointing of God is the only thing that removes burdens and destroys yokes. Now Saul would have the burden of taking care of the people by himself, in his own strength.

Too many ministers today are doing the work of the ministry without the Lord; they are doing it in their own strength. This has come about because of the cries of the people have drowned out the voice of the Lord and they feel pressured to perform.

Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man brings a snare, and whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.” Saul was caught in a trap because of the fear of the people. This is a big trap for ministers of God who start out in love with God and on fire with the calling God has given them. But many have become ensnared while trying to please people and have gotten ahead of God. They do not hear His voice, recognize his leading any longer and have gotten far off track. Some have lost the anointing needed to do the work of the ministry, resulting in broken lives; physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Jesus said in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”  We can do nothing without Him, and many of us are blinded and shortsighted because we are hearers only of the Word of God, not doers. James 1:22 says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

When we only hear the word and do not practice it we blind ourselves. It is as if a veil comes over us and hides the truth. Soon we are thinking we are totally in the will of God, doing His will but we are deceived, blinded, veiled and cannot see the truth. The best teaching of this I have found is from the book by Dutch Sheets, Intercessory Prayer. [1]

Saul was deceived. He really thought he was doing the will of God. What he should have done was waited, realizing he could not go into battle without the Lord’s help. If we cannot hear His voice we need to stop and wait until we hear clear direction from God.

What if we were on a journey and got lost? Would we just keep going, hoping to find our way somehow, somewhere? No, we would stop and get directions. The directions we get from the Lord should always bear witness in our spirit. The leading of the Spirit, the Word of God and circumstances all have to agree.

Too many people are waiting for an open door and sometimes fall for the trick of the enemy. There are times in our life when we have made mistakes, gotten off track and lost our course because of listening to people or making dumb mistakes. Remember I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Thank God we live in grace. We can stop where we are, repent of sin, ask forgiveness, and God is faithful and just to forgive us.

Furthermore, James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives all liberally, and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” The word “reproach” is the Greek word oneidizo, and in the Strong’s Exhaustive Dictionary gives the meaning as to defame, rail, chide, taunt, revile or to find fault. This means God wants to show us the right way and will not find fault or make us suffer where we are.

God’s will is for us according to 3 John 2 is for us to “….prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” But you cannot do this on your own. You need to stay in communication with God through prayer, Bible reading, fellowship with other saints, worship, etc. But mostly, it is just asking Him to help you, asking Him to guide you, to direct your footsteps. He wants us to ask.

John 15:7-8 tell us, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

We are told in Isaiah 1:19, “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.”

[1] Sheets, Dutch, Intercessory Prayer, Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1996)

 

Chapter 2, “Tosha’s Testimony”

Posted: August 27, 2019 in EAGLES- Those That Wait
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“Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed out of the hand of the enemy.” Psalm 107:2.

At the time of this writing (2003) I am employed as the administrator of The Church of the Living God in Galveston, Texas. Because I am also an ordained minister functioning as a staff pastor and Bible teacher, I am used often to teach classes and minister when our Senior Pastor Robert E. Dowdy, Sr is gone.

One week I felt very strongly that I was to minister in teaching at the Sunday 10 a.m. service. I went to Pastor Dowdy and told him that I never covet his pulpit, but I felt I had a message for the congregation on the practical teaching to “wait on the Lord”. Pastor Dowdy said he would think about it, but did not give me his answer until the following Saturday night at 8 p.m. I was ready because the Lord had spoken to me, and I obeyed by getting ready with the message.

As I spoke of examples of waiting that the Lord had given me, there was a holy hush throughout the congregation. At the end of the service Pastor Dowdy told the people that we were going to do nothing but wait on the Lord, and if they had to leave they should do so quietly. The praise leader began playing his guitar and one of the singers began to praise, but it seemed out of order in the spirit and they stopped. We sat quietly and waited.

After about 20 minutes, that seemed like hours, a lady got up and brought her child for prayer before she had to leave. Pastor and his wife prayed for the baby. As they prayed Pastor’s wife had a word of knowledge [1] for the mother. The mother of the baby fell to her knees sobbing as God totally delivered her. When that was over we all went back to sitting quietly. God had more for us.

The week prior in a mentor session I prophesied to Stella that she was to be bold when God had something on her heart. I felt God was going to use her in the near future to set someone free. Stella got up during this time of waiting and said, “Someone here feels like there are chains around their mind and they are being tortured. God has shown me who you are and I want you to come forward for God to set you free.” She stood there and waited but no one came. She repeated it and two ladies came forward and were set free from bondage. But she said the person God had shown her had not come forward.

Tosha was sitting with her husband and five children to Stella’s right. The church had been praying for Tosha because she was deeply depressed. We were concerned for her safety and the safety of her family.  Here is Tosha’s testimony as she told it to me:

“This all started when I was 17 years old and had a nervous breakdown. I was put in a hospital and have no memory of that month. I had suffered so much abuse in my young life and at that time I basically checked out and lost one month of my life, walking around in the hospital in a vegetative state. One day I was looking at the television and came back to my senses, wondering how I got there.

At the age of 20, after my first child was born, I received Jesus in my heart in my bedroom and God just showered me with His love. I felt such freedom and love that I have never experienced before. That lasted for a few weeks and then I had distance again from God. During the next ten years I drifted from doing well to going into times of depression. Those times I did not have feelings, just numbness.

The same thing happened in the year 2000 and I went blank for about a week. I was taking care of my children and even went to a Full Gospel church. I found a note I had written during that time in my Bible and it was written so small it seemed like Jiminy Cricket wrote it.

After that I started getting really numb again and thinking thoughts of death constantly. I told my husband to take me to the hospital and he did, not knowing why I needed to go. He did not realize I had plans to kill myself that evening.

In the hospital I got gloomier by the minute. I was in there with many people with a lot of different issues they were dealing with. The only difference between me and them was that I had God in my life and no fear of death. The numbness was so great and thoughts of heaven were getting stronger every day. The pain was so great. I did not love my husband anymore or care for my children. They had me on so much medication that I was more numb than when I began.

Satan did not need to torment me anymore, he had me. I had given up. When I got home I stayed inside my room all the time. I would close myself in my bedroom and would get up and change a diaper or make a meal, but I would get back into my bed right away. That bedroom always had to be dark; I could not stand the daylight or the sunshine because it was so bright. 

If I prayed with my children, it was a cold prayer with no feelings. I pushed everyone away including my husband and my children. I did not want anyone close to me. I did not love and I did not have any feelings at all. I would not allow anyone to love me, no matter how much they were reaching out to me. The chaos in the household was so great because I set a pattern in the house in front of my children. They were always fighting and it really had an effect on my husband.

I had many dreams about having fear of things. I was tormented all day long following a night of bad dreams. The odd this was during the nightmare, if I did pray, the fear and torment would stop there and I would not be tormented after I awoke. 

I found God again in church one day during a song and I began to cry. Finally I felt something! I had feelings again! I began to pray about every little thing. I did not want to lose that feeling of having God again in my life.

One day at church I decided I needed to get rid of this once and for all. That is the day my husband and children wanted to leave and I couldn’t. Something said, “Don’t leave.” My husband needed to leave and the children were cutting up the worst that they had ever done in church, and I couldn’t leave.

Several people came forward, but I knew that the word Stella had was for me. One time I felt like trying to get up and I then had a feeling of being sucked into the chair like at the Astro World ride and could not move. I wanted to get up when she said it, knowing it was for me, but I was in a struggle. I felt like my feet were chained.

Finally, Stella told Pastor Dowdy that she still needed to minister to someone and pointed to me. That was all I needed. Miraculously I was able to get up and I went forward. When she prayed for me I felt like there was a puff of smoke that came out of me and I was free!

The major breakthrough was that Sunday. but I had days of getting more and more relief. In my spirit I had finally found joy and peace. I had searched for this peace for years and had never found it. This peace is a part of me and I have been so happy ever since. I can feel God again! I can hear Him again!

Things that I had gone through had begun to build and build to that point. People that do not have God in their lives have no hope. Fifteen years of my adulthood I had battled depression, but no more. I am free!

I am so blessed to have my husband as my best friend and such wonderful children. God has been so good to me and I will never be the same again. I no longer have a good day followed by bad days. Now I love the sunshine, I love to laugh with my children and husband, and especially being able to praise God again.”

Tosha has not been the same since that Sunday of ‘waiting on the Lord’.  She smiles all the time and there is a sparkle in her eyes and a bounce in her step. That happened over two years from this writing and she is still free. John 8:36 says, “Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

We put aside our agendas that day and followed the leading of the Holy Spirit. What a blessing for all of us. I don’t want to make a doctrine of this subject, but we need to obey the leading of the Holy Spirit in praise, prayer, worship and waiting. Only God knows what we need and the best time for everything.

Jesus appeared to Kenneth E. Hagin, Sr. in 1987 regarding different types of services, and the plan and purpose for each meeting: Believer’s meetings, evangelistic meetings, healing services, teaching meetings, prayer meetings, worship services and so forth.

Kenneth Hagin spoke of believers meetings in his book “Plans, Purpose and Pursuits. [2]  of the time he pastored in Farmsville, Texas in 1939 and 1940. The following are excerpts from Chapter Four, “What’s Your Purpose?”

“We had three sections of seats in our little auditorium. There would be times when the whole congregation just sat quietly, reverencing and waiting on God. Sometimes the Spirit of God would move in such a way that with no pianist or any music at all, the people in one section would simultaneously jump up and start dancing all at one just like someone was leading them!  There was no music and there was no one leading them, but they’d all start dancing just like some Unseen One was orchestrating them. [3]

None of the services were alike. In some services, the Holy Ghost so came into the room and filled with His Presence that nobody moved, nobody said a word. You were afraid to move or speak because a holy awe gripped the crowd. We had no nursery. The babies were in their mother’s arms or asleep on the floor or on a bench. Little children were sitting by their mothers. Yet as we sat in total silence for an hour and a half, not a baby cried, not a child moved. The Presence of God filled His temple. Ohhhhh! You carry that presence with your for months and months. [4]

The following are exerpts from Chapter Eight, “Reverence: Key to God’s Presence and Power.” [5]

We need to learn that when the Presence of the Lord is in a place, we should not dissipate that Presence — that power. Be quiet and reverent and then you’ll see the manifestation of the Holy Ghost that your heart has longed for. You haven’t seen anything like what we will see when the Body of Christ gets to that place of worship. We were in that kind of atmosphere worshiping God in one of our crusades, and there were five people sitting in wheelchairs. Three of them just got up and walked off. No one laid a hand on them. But for that to happen, we have to begin getting into the flow of the Holy Spirit. [6]

However, sometimes when the anointing has come to minister in that office (prophetic), people in the congregation have gotten up and started moving about. The lack of reverence for God moving in the service grieved the Spirit and He left; the anointing lifted from me. I mean, just like a bird sitting on your shoulder, it flew away — the anointing left. And those people didn’t even know it; they went out talking and whispering. Maybe they were in a hurry to leave and get something to eat, but they didn’t know that they had just hindered some dear sick people from being healed — sometimes people with terminal cases. [7]

Several years ago, the Lord said to me, “There is a move of the Spirit of God that will be lost to this present generation unless they are taught and led into it.”[8]

During those times when the Presence of God came into our services, no one moved; an awesome Presence filled the room. I wish I could describe that awesome Presence to you. Some things are just too reverent to talk about and it’s had to find words to describe them. But I’ve seen the awesome Presence of God come in and fill the Temple. I long to see the Body of Christ experience that Presence on a continual basis! [9]

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under  heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up, a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to gain, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

[1] I Corinthians 12:8

[2] Hagin, Kenneth E, Plans Purposes and Pursuits, Fifth Printing 1992 (Tulsa: Rhema Bible Church, AKA Kenneth Hagin Ministries, Inc)

[3] Ibid. pg 45

[4] Ibid. pg 46

[5] Ibid. pg 99-113

[6] Ibid. pg 107

[7] Ibid. pg 108

[8] Ibid. pg 111

[9] Ibid. pg 112

 

Chapter 1: What Does It Mean To Wait?

Posted: August 22, 2019 in EAGLES- Those That Wait
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“Be Diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of God.” 2 Timothy 2:15

In order to understand what the Word of God is saying to us in a particular situation it is important to do a word study. The Old Testament was primarily written in Hebrew and the New Testament was written in Greek.

For this reason I went to my Strong’s Concordance [1] to find the original meanings of the word “wait” or “waits”. I found in the Old Testament the word was used in many different Hebrew words. I am expounding a few of these meanings.

Arab– #693 is a prime root and it means to lurk; (lie in) ambush, lay (lie in) wait. This was used in over 35 instances where the enemies of God’s chosen people would seek to ambush them.

Psalm 59:3 gives an example of this word, “For look, they lie in wait for my life: the mighty gather against me.”

Dumiyah– #1747 in the Strong’s concordance means to silently wait with quiet trust. Here is a scriptural example that shows quiet confidence and trust:

Psalms 62:1-2 that says, “Truly my soul silently waits for God; from Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.”

Chakah– #2442 in the Strong’s Concordance means to adhere to, long for, desire. I have listed a few scriptural examples of this Hebrew word. I believe you will get a word picture of the longing and desire for the Living God, as a thirst that cannot be quenched with anything or anyone but God Himself.

Psalm 33:20 says, “Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.”

Psalm 42:1-2 says, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God.”

Psalm 63:1, “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.”

Habukkuk 2:3 encourages us; “For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”

Yachal– Strong’s #3176: To wait, tarry, hope, trust, expect; be patient; remain in anticipation. Yachal appears 38 times in the OT. It’s first occurrence is in Genesis 8:10, in the account of Noah’s waiting seven days, from the time he first sent out the dove until he sent her out again.  Yachal is often translated “hope” (Psalms 31:24; 33:18; 130:5,7; 147:11). The correct way to hope and wait for the Lord is to steadfastly expect His mercy, His salvation, and His rescue; and while waiting, not take matters into one’s own hand. (Compare Genesis 15:1-17:22). [2]

The Spirit of God is able to help you overcome bad choices that were made in the past. Some of us have made a simple financial choice and suffer financially for years because they have not waited for God’s timing. God eventually was able to help Abraham outlive the bad choices he made.

Micah 7:7 declares, “Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me.”

Oayah– #6960 means to wait for, with eager anticipation, to bind something together by twisting or braiding.

Psalm 27:14 says “Wait on the LORD; be of good courage. And He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!”

Isaiah 40:31 promises us, “But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

This prime root word means to bind together, perhaps by twisting, that is collect’ (figuratively) to expect; gather (together), look, patiently, tarry, wait (for, on upon).

In this book I will be using the meaning of Qavah because that is the word the Lord used while teaching me. When I was meditating on waiting on the Lord, I kept hearing the word “wicked” in my spirit. I had learned the meaning of the word wicked in Hebrew years ago when I taught on Psalm 1. “Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of the sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.” The word ungodly is the same word wicked (#7563, rasha) which means a morally wrong, bad person, guilty. This is where we get the word wicked from as used in Genesis 18:23. “And Abraham came near and said, Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?”

The ungodly and the wicked have twisted thinking much like the twisting on a wicker basket.  Their thinking has nothing to do with the word of God and when they twist their thinking with the natural, human reasoning it becomes twisted. Their thinking of who God is and how He will operate may be twisted by a former abuse of a father and they cannot trust God because of what their father has done to them. Or it may be twisted by traditions of man, forming religious strongholds in their mind. There are many things that can cause wicked or ungodly thinking and they do not realize that they have a mind set against God.

There are strongholds in our thinking and many more causes than I can list here. What God wants us to do is to twist our thinking around the Word of God and let that be our standard, our measurement for living. When we are waiting on the Lord, we need to meditate on his Word and promises. If waiting for a financial breakthrough one of the versus we can use to help our thinking is Psalm 23:1 that states, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want!” or Philippians 4:19 that promises, “But my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus.”

As you meditate on the Word of God you magnify they Word inside of you. It is much like putting something under a magnifying glass; it appears larger. As you meditate on the Bible promises your hope grows and gives your faith a base; a firm foundation.

Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” As you wait and meditate, the Word of God becomes bigger than your problem. If you meditate on the problem your fear becomes bigger and the situation looks larger than the promises of God.

[1] James Strong, S.T.D., L.L.D. Abingdon’s Strong’s Ehaustive Concordance of the Bible, copyright 1890, (Abingdon, Nashville) Fortieth Printing 1981

[2] Jack Hayford, The Spirit Filled Life Bible, New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers), 1327

Those That Wait – Introduction

Posted: August 22, 2019 in EAGLES- Those That Wait
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They that wait upon the Lord renew their strength. They that wait upon men dissipate their energies. Leonard Ravenhill (1867-1942)

This all began at Christmas time, 2001. I had just finished helping with the Christmas production at the church, with all the months of rehearsal and the last minute trials that are involved My husband and I had guests at our home frequently for the past few months, in addition to the usual Christmas activities, parties, shopping and Christmas cards to send. I was exhausted!

One day when I was spending time with the Lord I prayed something like this, “Lord, you promised in your word that, ‘they that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.’ (Isaiah 40:31) Lord, I am weary. It seems like I am under and not over the circumstances. I have definitely gotten off course. Please, teach me to wait. I guess I am doing everything wrong, because I know that your Word will never fail. It is alive and active, causing me to overcome in all areas. What am I doing wrong? Please, please Lord, teach me to wait.”

The promise of God in James for anyone who needs wisdom is found in the first chapter of James, the fifth verse; “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” God wants to give us His wisdom in every area, but we are to ask. The Amplified Bible calls God ‘the giving God’ in this verse. He will give you the wisdom you need without reminding us of our shortcomings. I think we limit God too much in trying to do things for ourselves, without the help of the God who knows all things.

I had been born again almost twenty years at that time. I had completed two Bible Schools and was in the ministry full time so I felt I had a more than average understanding of the Word of God. Therefore, I realized this problem was something I was in error about. God promised us rest in Jesus. Matthew 11:28-30 says to “Come to Me, all of you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

I have always had a problem taking on too many projects and most of the time my health has suffered because of it. At each of these times the Lord has gently shown me to come back to Him and refresh. It seems that I forget those teachings when I am too busy.

Several years ago I was introduced to a marvelous teaching of Dick Eastman, the book called “The Hour that Changes the World.” [1] He was teaching on how to pray one hour by breaking the hour into twelve segments of five minutes each.

That book has revolutionized my life and the lives of all those to whom I have been a mentor in this prayer teaching. In the time frame of meditation, I chose to meditate on ‘waiting’. This book you are now reading is a result of the Holy Spirit revealing to me three different ways we wait on the Lord, according to the season of life we are in at that time. I know there are many more teachings and writings on this topic, but this is the revelation the Holy Spirit used to teach me to wait on the Lord.

Following the hour of prayer I always feel complete and fulfilled. I have slightly improvised Dick Eastman’s teaching as he suggested doing. Prayer should never be a religious form, but a relationship; communication between you and your Maker. As I pray this way I feel I have covered everything that I have been commanded to do according to Scripture. After that time of prayer and throughout the day I can pray how I am led by the Holy Spirit.

I have brought out my hourly prayer frame in the last chapter of this book. I trust that the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Truth, will teach you as you submit yourself to the Great Teacher.

Systematic prayer adds health to the devotional habit. Most tasks in life are accomplished systematically. In fact without a systematic approach in life, many goals would remain unreached. [2]

Please pray with me: Father, I come to you in Jesus name, and ask according to Ephesians 1:18 that the eyes of my understanding may be enlightened and that I may see the truth of this teaching. May I hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church right now. Holy Spirit, I thank you that you have come to help me, to lead me, to guide me. I trust you Holy Spirit and I trust the Word of God. Lead me and guide me to the whole truth. Amen

[1] Eastman, Dick, The Hour That Changes The World (Grand Michigan, Baker Books)

[2] Ibid. pg 16-17

 

Those That Wait – PREFACE

Posted: August 21, 2019 in EAGLES- Those That Wait
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This book is no longer in print. It was self-published in 2004 under Morris Publishing.  I have been teaching this on High Five and several are asking for the book and they are unable to find it. For that reason I will be putting all chapters separately on this blog site.

PREFACE:  This book is not intended for the believers that are waiting to do something before they will step out. This is meant to be a help for those who fall into the trap of doing the work of the Lord in their own strength and their own power. Too many ministers are caught up with doing the mechanics of ministry without the power of God.

The majority of the people who are called to any work of the ministry really have heard from God regarding their assignment. But the problems come when they get caught up with the busyness of ministry.  We are all called to be ministers in some area or another. It does not have to be limited to those called into the five-fold ministry spoken of the Ephesians 4:11, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.”

Every one of us has a motivational gift from God that is used to motivate us in the work He has called us to do according to Romans 12:4-8 that says, “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”

The obstacle with any assignment is the trap of losing focus, strength, courage and love for the brethren and for God. This is the state of the church of Ephesus spoken of in Revelation 2:1-4. The Amplified Bible says in verse 4, “But I have this [charge] against you, that you have left your first love [you have lost the depth of love that you first had for Me].” This does not come on suddenly, but over a period of time by getting too busy and beginning to do things in their own strength, mechanically doing the work of the ministry from experiences.

This is to be used as a tool to help you pull away from the trap that has so easily ensnared you, to help you drop off the weights that so easily beset you and to run the race you are called to run with all the power of heaven helping you.

Remember, the work of the ministry is “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6)