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Discussion Topic: 20th Wedding Anniversary |
 spiritwind |
01-20-2003 @ 2:32 AM |
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G'day Guys,
June 11th 2003 will be our 20th Wedding Anniversary, please pray that the finances come together so that we can go on a cruise together to celebrate 20 years of marriage,
Thanks for your prayers,
Kind regards,
Mark
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| Godskid |
01-20-2003 @ 1:00 PM |
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Joined: Jun. 02
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Lord Jesus Christ I come before you in intercession for Mark and his beautiful wife. Jesus for this faithful servant and friend who has always put you first we stand on your Word;
Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Psa 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
In the name of and by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
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| Amareno |
01-21-2003 @ 9:02 AM |
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Psalms 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Psalms 9:18 For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.
Proverbs 23:18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
Dear LORD for You Who Answers prayers more than we ever hope or imagined...So LORD I thank You for gift of life for this couple and that which You will do in their coming years together. I know You will meet at their point of needs even as you have been doping in the past 20 years...
Thank You Father that their expectations and desires in You is complete and acccomplished according to Your riches in glory by Christ Jesus Amen.
Yours In The Vineyard, Amareno
"As the deer panteth after the waterbrooks, so panteth my soul after thee oh Lord" (Psalm 42:1)
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| Godskid |
01-22-2003 @ 11:54 AM |
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Twice as Much
By Reinhard Bonnke
www.cfan.org
(for Spiritwind's encouragement)
Greetings!
May this New Year 2003, the third year of the third millennium, bring you your most glorious experience yet in the Lord’s service and goodness. That is my prayer for you, as if I said it for each reader personally.
Several men of God who are my friends and I myself have heard a voice in our souls as direct as from the Lord, just one word: “Double!” It came as an imperative upon each one of us working for God. It could have been challenging and daunting, yet it is so natural and harmonious, with assurance. What God commands He makes possible. When God prompts He provides. No, we are not overreaching. ‘The arm of flesh will fail us, you dare not trust your own’, but God has a mighty arm.
What follows is a Bible-study about the word “Double”. It is like a key to an orchard of spiritual fruit. “He satisfies the desires of every living creature”. I am thankful that by the mercy of God the only thing we haven’t got is what we deserve as sinful creatures! My sincere desire is that this study will edify you in our most Holy Faith. May the Holy Spirit give us all ears to hear!
Reinhard Bonnke.
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“Because of the blood of my covenant with you, return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope, even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you”.
Zechariah 9:11,12
Twice as much! Double! Multiply! Increase! Abound! That is Scripture talk. The Bible begins that way, three times in the first chapter God’s order is to ‘multiply’, giving us a picture of productive life, clothing the world with beauty, God’s garment of glory. We read how things “increase with the increase of God’, an ever widening and deepening river, nothing threadbare, worn out, patched up, but “the goodness of the Lord fills the whole earth.” God doesn’t want the world to think of Him as poverty stricken, just scraping along, an impression church meanness has sometimes produced.
The Bible is the most positive book in the world. It has no room for terms like subtract, halve, cut back, and reduce. In the heavenly music they are off-note. But “increase’ and ‘increased’ occur over 160 times. The Creator’s method of organic growth is by the process of the doubling of cells over and over. . .as exemplified in every one our own DNA patterns. He is the ceaseless Giver, an endlessly flowing stream. He pours Himself out like the sun giving light.
Zechariah’s words above come from the year 536 BC when King Cyrus sent Judean captives back to their homeland and Jerusalem. The prophets Zechariah and Haggai encouraged them with the words of the Lord. They faced impoverished desolation and had to start from scratch to make a living and build necessary homes. But they gave priority to fitting up their dwellings in luxurious style, while the house of God was not even built. The Temple was vital to national unity, and no mere token. It was needed as the heart of their relationship with God. But it was neglected and that brought inevitable repercussions. The prophet said they sowed much but reaped little and put their money into a bag with holes. Food shortages harassed them, prosperity eluded them. That was never how God wanted it. He delights in ‘double’.
The prophet said “Consider your ways!” Recognize God! Put first things first and attend to the central pivot of their national existence! When they did Haggai pointed out that from that day somehow things got better. Zechariah predicted God would revive their fortunes “I will restore twice as much to you.” It is a matter of universal experience that there is a law of sowing and reaping, and sowing spiritual goodness brings material goodness.
I observed that Paul the apostle was not squeamish about offerings to God. Using the same two or three words time after time, like hammer blows, he emphasized, “ just as you excel (abound) in ALL things, in faith, in speech, in knowledge. see that you also excel (or abound) in this grace of giving. God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make ALL grace excel (or abound) to you so that in ALL things at ALL times, having ALL that you need, you will excel (abound) in ALL good works. 2 Cor. 8:7, 9:8. Paul, being aware of their pride in spiritual gifts, prophecy, tongues, healings, he told them to ‘excel’ and then said exercise this charisma of giving also.
When anybody wishes to give, God sees they have something to give, not only money but effort, time and prayer. He makes us channels of provision. He calls us to exercise ‘the grace of giving’. Called to give! Giving is God’s joy and our earthly circumstances are an opportunity to share in His joy.
In the law of Deuteronomy, 21:17, a firstborn son should have twice as much from his father as other sons. The Lord called Israel His firstborn son. It was a coded promise to Israel that they would prosper, receive double beyond other nations. God promised to bless Abraham, and in his case he gained wealth and possessions. Well, did ever God bless people by making them poor? It reminds me of Joseph in Egypt setting twice as much food at the table for Benjamin his blood brother as for the other ten. That is the style of the royal house of heaven also, a heaped up plate, a loaded table, an overflowing cup. “You prepare a table before me”.
Mosaic laws may sometimes legislate for exceptions. Here’s one instance anyhow, and with good reason. It lays down the hypothetical case of a man with two wives, one hated, the other loved. If his hated wife bears him a son first, the boy is entitled to a double portion. It should not be given to the firstborn of the favorite wife. The principle is quite astonishing. Certainly Jacob did not follow it with Joseph and Benjamin. The firstborn should be accepted for full sonship favor and not lose out because of prejudice or parentage. This sounds like Jesus saying “If ye then being evil give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask!” Our heavenly Father favors sinners, us, the fallen sons of fallen Adam. What Elisha asked is given us, a double portion of His Spirit. The bounty of God is so all-embracing.
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| Godskid |
01-22-2003 @ 11:56 AM |
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Twice as Much
page 2
Being “Graced”
God has nothing to do with dis-favour. The Mosaic rule is reflected in Ephesians 1:6 “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved”. The first born son of the hated wife had to be ‘ accepted in the beloved’. Paul uses a special word here found only twice in the New Testament. Literally it would read God had ‘graced us in the beloved.’ The same word was used by the angel at the Annunciation, Luke 1:28. Gabriel appeared to Mary the virgin and said she was ‘graced’. The usual English translation is “highly favored”. God ‘highly favored’ Mary, and “highly favors” us, accepting us into the ‘beloved’ or ‘the one beloved’. No discrimination.
The NIV translation is “the One he loves”, we are accepted in His beloved. The Lord spoke from heaven saying Christ was His “beloved son” (Matt. 3:17). We are favored in Him, or along with Him, or we inherit with the Beloved One as heirs of God. Gal. 4:7.
Equally, Israel was His loved son. Mal 1:2-3 “Was not Jacob Esau’s brother?” the Lord says, “Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau have I hated”. We gentiles who do not descend from Jacob, were the ‘hated’, remaining in darkness while God made His love known to Jacob, crooked though he was. But in Christ the ‘hated’ children, like the son of the hated wife in Leviticus, are accepted in the beloved, and we become fellow heirs with Israel of all God’s favors. It was to Corinth, a Roman city, that Paul declared they were the ‘highly favored’.
Unlimited in God
The prophet Elijah had a servant, Elisha who asked Elijah “ Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit!” Now, Elijah made his appearances in Israel with a series of dramatic miracles, mainly judgments. Elisha knew Elijah would soon be removed from the scene, and did not want Elijah’s ministry to be cut off. So to continue the glory of God in Israel he asked Elijah for a ‘double portion’, as Elijah’s spiritual son. Elijah said it was ‘hard’, actually impossible for Elijah, but God did it.
Perhaps Elisha hoped just for the elder son’s share, but God does not need to share anything, as if He had limited means. He poured out upon Elisha more than he asked or thought, giving him a ministry double Elijah’s miracle ministry, and also different, marked by God’s goodness and grace. Elijah was always Israel’s favorite prophet because of their desire for judgment upon their enemies, as so often expressed in the book of Psalms. Elijah had personalized that attitude, but Elisha manifested mercy.
The angel told Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, that John would come in the spirit and power of Elijah. His preaching reflected the Elijah disposition of judgment. Christ’s disciples showed a similar spirit wanting to call fire from heaven (like Elijah upon a hostile Samaritan village). Jesus said, “You don’t know what manner of spirit you are”, meaning that as the bringers of the Gospel their spirit would be rich in the endowments of God’s grace and goodness. John the Baptist wondered if he had got it right as Christ brought no destruction annihilating Israel’s foes, but wrought acts of immense grace and goodness, in the spirit of Elisha. Christ nevertheless sent John great encouragement, assuring him that He was the One John expected, though God was not all judgment.
We learn – slowly. Elisha learned to believe God for double. Jesus showed John the Baptist more than he prophesied or Elisha dreamed. That’s God’s way. Moses had the Spirit, and then the 70 elders. When one or two others received it Joshua was anxious, as if there was only so much to be had. But Joel spoke of the Spirit upon ‘all flesh’. Its first realization came for 120 on the day of Pentecost, next the 3000, then the 5000, then spreading away to Samaria, Corinth, Ephesus. Ezekiel foresaw the unlimited in God, pictured as water, waters to the ankles, to the thighs, then waters to swim in. Ever increasing blessing, rains, monsoons, floods, and waterfalls!
To be like God we have to give. Without irreverence I think of God as an extremist, an extremist in love overcoming extreme evil, giving everything He had at the Cross. What extravagance! We are worth nothing except what He paid to redeem us.
He wrapped the robe of His everlasting love around the shoulders of this prodigal planet – what a costly and rich robe that was, but that is God, liberal beyond the narrow concepts of our little minds. How can people sing “Fill my cup Lord?” What sort of Bible theology or view of God is that? Cup? Why - Christ’s very first miracle was a Divine gesture of lavish extravagance - producing gallons of the finest wine. His promise is streams of living waters. “Indulge yourself in the Lord!”. Revel in the generosity of God. Double? Yes, and God doubles all the time.
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