Fun Glimpses

God’s Word…..What Else Is There?

 

If you are interested in spiritual matters, it is necessary for you to read and consider what God has to say.

2 Timothy 2:7:

Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

God’s Word was not written to people who hate God and want to have nothing to do with either Him or His wonderful Son, Jesus Christ. It was written to people who want to have spiritual understanding. I can’t image not wanting to have an understanding of the Creator of the heavens and the earth. God has given us His Word so that we can know Him and His Son, Jesus Christ. That in itself is a very amazing privilege.

Recently we had a weekend with some wonderful teachers of God’s Word who showed us how to open the Scriptures so that we could more fully consider them. We were shown how the Church Epistles fit together and complement each other. I was reminded of the section in the Gospels where Jesus Christ appeared to two men after his resurrection and took the time to witness to them.

Luke 24:32:

And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

That’s a wonderful thing to experience: to have your heart burn within you while someone’s opening the Scriptures to you. Perhaps you had that happen to you the first time you spoke in tongues or when you realized that speaking in tongues is the proof to you that you are born again. It’s very wonderful!

1 Corinthians 12:3b:

…and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost

Romans 8:16:

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.

 

1 Timothy 2:4 tells us that God would love to have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. That’s God’s heart but it most likely will not happen because of the devilish nature of man. Even though there are millions and millions of religious people in the world, only a few of us will have the desire to see God’s heart for their lives.

God designed man to be a three – part being: body, soul and spirit. It’s easy to understand body and soul because that’s what we see. Spirit, however, is another matter because you can’t see it with the five senses and that will always continue to baffle the ordinary man.

Jesus himself said in John 6:63: “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” When we speak God’s Word we are speaking spiritual words. There is energy in spiritual words and energy moves and causes a reaction.

That’s why when you consider the words that you read in the Scriptures, they will cause a reaction – hopefully a very positive reaction; even if it’s reproof, and that will cause understanding to occur. Understanding is a good thing because it will build your believing in God’s Word.

Romans 10:17:

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Acquiring spiritual understanding is a discipline and like anything else in life that’s worth having, it requires some work. That’s why there are men and women of God around; to do the perfecting of the saints that Ephesians 4:12 speaks about. We need to have God’s Word opened to us so that we can consider and get that understanding that the men that Jesus witnessed to on the road to Emmaus spoke about.

We want to have our hearts burning within us as often as possible as a result of hearing God’s Word because God’s Word heals and we need that healing wholeness. I believe a portion of the prayer at the end of Ephesians 1 describes the considering and understanding very wonderfully.

Ephesians 1:17-19:

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.

Hopefully, we’ll always want to consider what God says, because He wants us to abound and abound in His glory.

Funglimpses and thanks for reading. Respectfully submitted! Will Grove

 

 

 

 

July 5, 2020                                                           All Is Well

 

3 John 3 says: “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”

2 Timothy 1:7 says: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Ephesians 4:11 says: “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

Here we have 3 very wonderful promises of God that make available to us a sound mind, prosperity in all avenues, freedom from fear and the ability to deal with negative situations brought on by devilish powers. The reason this is titled “All Is Well” is that if we amend our minds to these promises, we will find, that for our lives, all is well. That doesn’t mean that you’re not going to get sick from time to time, or have bloopers from time to time, but for all practical purposes, all will be well.

I have heard in TV commercials lately that we live in uncertain times. They are referring to the current times, but really, man is always living in uncertain times and has been since Adam and Eve gave it up in the Garden of Eden.

The only certain thing about our times right now is the reality of the greatness of God and His Word and God’s love. With that all is well: without that, all is not well, regardless of how well it seems. The god of this world will see to that –

2 Corinthians 4:4: “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

The Devil is the god of this world and unfortunately, until the return of Jesus Christ, he can do pretty much what he wants, as long as the unbelief is there. He works to stir people up and to keep a lid on God’s Word as much as he can. What the true God wants is for people like us to get stirred up for His Word and to put on the whole armor of God and to fight against those powers as much as we possibly can.

The long and short of it is that God is going to win in the end and the Devil knows this and so he will do whatever he can to keep us distracted and from thinking and speaking God’s Word.

In 2 Kings there is the record of a Shunammite woman who befriended the prophet Elisha and extended to him hospitality as was the Eastern custom at that time.

As the story unfolds between Verses 12-35 of the 4^th chapter of 2 Kings, Elisha asks his servant Gehazi what could be done for the woman to extend hospitality back to her. He is told that her husband was old and that she was childless. In Verse 16, Elisha told the woman, by revelation, that she was going to have a son, which was a blessing in the Eastern Culture.

In the process of time, she does have a son and the son grows up. Out of nowhere, the child has a sudden problem with his head which ends up killing him. Now we stop the story right here and consider what the woman and her husband must have gone through emotionally having just lost their only child which they didn’t think they were going to have in the first place. I can only imagine that it would be gut wrenching to lose your only child suddenly as in an accident. It could be unbelievably depressing.

This woman faced a situation a lot bigger than the uncertainties of current circumstances, and she kept herself outwardly positive and I believe inwardly as well and went to confront the man of God as to how she felt. As she approached him he sent his servant to meet her and she had the presence of mind to tell Gehazi in Verse 26 that “…all is well.”

She had her mind fixed on God and the power of God. Elisha went and ministered to her son and raised him from the dead by the power of God. If that wouldn’t raise one’s believing, I don’t know what would.

Even in troubling times, if we believe God’s promises, we can say, “all will be well”. What we want to do is to put on the mind of Christ and know that things will be made right. It is always a great comfort when we rise up to our believing privileges and see God’s Word working in our lives. That’s when we will see things going as they should.

Romans 12:2: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good , and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”

Perhaps our biggest challenge is the neighbors and what we let the neighbors do to our heads. Neighbors includes the media, the news and all the other things that the Devil uses to get our minds into unbelief and off the greatness of God’s promises concerning health and prosperity.

Fear has always been a prime mover in our culture and it’s especially high at this time because of the medical issues that our country is concerned with. The best thing we can do about that is pray. Romans 8:26 is a great start because it instructs us to speak in tongues for the things which we can’t clearly see and understand.

There’s very little in the senses realm you can do to make a change in these kinds of situations. You can’t just cast a vote at the ballot box, but we can pray in the spirit a lot and we can talk to God about the things we know need to change.

So yes, there is a lot going on and as far as we are concerned, we represent the light of God’s Word.

1 John 1:5b: “…God is light and in him is no darkness at all.”

Verse 7a “If we walk in the light as he is the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

Physical light dispels physical darkness and spiritual light dispels spiritual darkness and gives physical health. Why not focus on being a spiritual light which will always put us in a position to say “all is well”.

Funglimpses and all. Thanks for reading. Respectfully submitted. Will Grove

 

Pretty Amazing

 

Acts 2:4: “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

That moment in time is the beginning of what is referred to as the Church of the Body of Christ, and at that moment, mankind sort of turned a corner in spiritual history. This was the Day of Pentecost, also referred to as the birthday of the Church. At no other time in history, prior to this, had mankind had the opportunity to take part of what Jesus Christ came to make available. I heard it referred to recently in a teaching that this would be perhaps one of the most significant days in spiritual history of all time.

1 Thessalonians 1:10: “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”

We know that someday Jesus Christ will return and gather his Church in the air and that also after a period of time after that will be established a new heaven and a new earth, wherein lives righteousness, with no more sickness and no more sorrow. All of that however, is future. With the new spiritual birth, which came at Pentecost, we can operate spiritual power: being righteous, free from condemnation.

Your mind and your body can take a breath of fresh air from the things of the world. It’s a pretty wonderful thing when you think about it.

The irony of all this is that it’s spiritual and spiritual things can only be understood by people who have the spirit of God. Not everybody’s going to understand this, but this means a lot to those of us who love God and look forward to Christ’s 2^nd coming.

1 Peter 1:3: ” Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy have begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

If we rejoice in the hope regularly, spiritual things will mean much more to us and we will daily delight in the things made available in the new birth. After all it took God around 4000 years from Genesis 3:16 to Pentecost for things to be right so that Pentecost could take place. I say that figuratively, because God inhabits eternity, and He can do as He wishes. He had a plan in place and He saw to it that it was carried out. We are here to fellowship with Him, which is to love Him and to talk to Him as much as we can.

Psalm 1:1,2: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, not sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”

Then the Psalm goes on to say, if you put on this state of mind, things will go well with you. Any man off the street wants things to go well with him: however, which way would he want to go? God’s way or his own way. You only have two choices, there are no other options.

If his delight is in the law of God, which in this day and time, is wrapped up in the new birth, the seven Church Epistles for us, things will go well. That doesn’t mean you’re never going to get sick or have bad moments, but things will go well, because your delight is in the law of God. I heard a man of God many years ago say, over and over, that if it wasn’t for the hope of Christ’s return, he’d have given up long ago.

I think I’m beginning to understand that a bit, because the pressure never ceases however your life flows . He saw a lot more pressure than I have, and yet it’s still there. If you don’t have your head in God’s Word and your eyes on the hope, you’ll eventually get talked out of the things that came with Pentecost. Hopefully that won’t happen.

Psalms 1:3: “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

This is one of the promises of God and it can be claimed by believing. This is the result of delighting yourself in God. A person who does not have or does not care to have the promises of God may very well prosper hugely in the physical realm because of their believing. He can do as he pleases and he does. But it stops right there: there is no new birth, the blessings of God and operating genuine spiritual power.

We on the other hand, who love the things of God and being with other people who think the same way, have the pleasure of knowing that we shall prosper because we delight in God.

Ephesians 1:19: “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.”

That sounds like a lot of fun to me. We should be thankful for the things that came to us on Pentecost because of what God brought about because of Jesus Christ’s accomplishments.   That’s it for me for now. Thanks for reading funglimpses. Respectfully submitted! Will Grove

 

 

God’s Word has not Changed

Psalms 118:24 tells us,

“This is the day that the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

I realize as I read this through this that this Psalm is a directed statement and not a suggestion. It is not a matter of us maybe rejoicing in the day that God has made, but of our realizing that God has made each day for us to rejoice in His glory and in His presence in our lives.

I’m aware that each day when I get up that this is always true because God’s Word has not changed. Whether it’s sunny or gloomy; happy or sad, positive or negative, it’s easy to forget that God is always there for His people. His people just need to realize that!

Presently we are engulfed in a tidal wave of fear and negative believing in our society because of the most recent sickness that the adversary has let out of his box upon the world.

What does a tidal wave do once it hits land and does its initial damage? It dissipates and disappears, but it does leave people talking and having to deal with the damage for some time to come. This is where people such as us, who know God’s Word and are charged with speaking It, have a great opportunity to pray and speak His Word.

John 10:10 is a wonderful truth which I think sums up this day and time very accurately.

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

The devil does try to steal our peace and the things of our life which mean much to us, with the ramifications of fear. However, Jesus Christ said that he came that we might have life and that life is spiritual. The spiritual life will manifest itself in the senses world which we live in.

Romans 10:9,10 shows us what to do to get the new birth and it’s very simple. Once you have that new birth, it is yours forevermore, but it does take work to conduct your life in accordance with that new spirit.

Making Jesus Christ lord in your life is a special work and requires great discipline. It takes commitment to work God’s Word in your life to the point where you can override the pressures of this life which will always come at you like traffic in heavy rush hour.

Proverbs 3:5,6 and 7a tell us:

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes:”

This is quite a mountain of truth. The reason God gave us His Word was that we could have an abundant life, as Jesus Christ stated in John. To have that abundant life you have to want to have it bad enough for you to put the work in on making it part of your life. That might require some significant changes in your life which might not be what you’re used to, but they would be pointing you in the direction of God’s love and power which is worth any change in your life.

2 Peter 1:3 tells us,

“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that called us t glory and virtue.”

‘All things’ means all things and that certainly would include peace in our hearts and freedom from fear, which is always problematic. When times get very stressful, people will turn to all sorts of avenues for relief and unfortunately all too often they are tricked into turning to the very sources that caused the stress for their source of relief. That doesn’t do anybody any good, but if you don’t know any better, you will wander about.

Colossians 3:15 tells us,

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called In one body; and be ye thankful.”

This verse would not tell us that if it were not possible. You can always top it off with being thankful. It’s always right to be positive and to be thankful. This is God’s way, not man’s way. There’s always something to be thankful for, even in the midst of apparent chaos.

What we are going through right now in our country is perhaps new to so many of us, but it’s not new to God. Man has always been dealing with the adversary’s wrath since Genesis 3:15 and it will continue in some form or fashion until the return of Christ. We just need to understand where it comes from and that it needs to be handled spiritually.

In stressful times, one of our biggest challenges as believers, will be to deal with the pressure of the unbelief and fear of others who are engulfed in the stress. The prophets of old certainly went through that. Moses went through it regularly dealing with the children of Israel and they were just as nuts as people are today and they were God’s people!

Remember, the devil orchestrated this mess, but God is ultimately in charge. That’s one of the reasons why He gave us intercessory prayer.

Romans 8:26:

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered.”

This means that we can speak in tongues for the things which we don’t know and understand and expect that God will take it from there. He makes us the final victors!

Philippians 4:6,7

“Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving  let your request be made unto God. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and mind  through Christ Jesus.”

“Careful” in verse 6, means not to be anxious or “freaked out” as some might say. God would not have had that written if it were not available. A certain amount of peace is available to anybody who can control their minds to be peaceful, but only the peace of God, which is the highest level possible, is available to those who look to God and His wonderful Son, our lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

It’s blessed me a lot to share these thoughts in this day and time, and I hope it blesses you as well. Funglimpses and all. Thanks for reading. Respectfully submitted, Will Grove

 

February 20, 2020                        Working God’s Word

 

Many years ago I heard in a class on the Bible that it was very important to rightly-divide God’s Word. At the time, I didn’t really understand the fullness of what that meant. Actually, I’m still working on that, but I think I understand it better now.

2 Timothy 2:15 tells us: “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

John 4:24 tells us that God is spirit and Psalms 138:2 tells us that God magnified His Word above all His name. These two verses put together tell us that God’s Word is spiritual and that the words in God’s Word are spiritual words given by God Who is the creator of the heavens and the earth, which we read in Genesis 1:1:

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

That’s a very big thing and if we want to know what’s happening in our world and life in general, you really need to go to God’s Word and learn how to put the puzzle together.

Life is not complicated but it can be like a puzzle at times and God, our heavenly Father is the only source for learning how to put it together. God would like for us to be workmen of His Word, and if we want to stand approved before Him, our only course of action is to learn to rightly divide His Word.

2 Peter 1:3 tells us: “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that called us to glory and virtue.”

There are many sources offering spiritual attainment and they have managed to engulf much of the world. However, if we want to find out about the things that pertain to life and godliness, we need to go to the Scriptures, which are God’s Word. Any way you look at it, it’s necessary to go to God’s Word, the Scriptures, if you want to piece together the truths pertaining to this life.

Man, by his very nature, is God-hungry, and will always be looking for sources to fill that hunger. This accounts for the idolatry that engulfed people in the Old and New Testament times and is still a prime source of worship today.

God always knew this would happen. Even though man is basically God-hungry, he still has his flesh, his mind, to deal with and the flesh will always try to achieve the things of God through its own works. The irony is that it is impossible for man to achieve righteousness within himself or by his own works. But he thinks he can!

Romans 4:3 tells us: “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.”   This is doing it the easy way!

Romans 10:3 “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” This is doing it the hard way!

The key here is that Abraham believed God and as a result God counted him as righteous. Abraham worked God’s Word in his heart and life and God looked on his heart. The same applies to us in this day and time. Abraham did not have the written Scriptures such as we do and yet he was a very faithful believer. Evil was just as common back in his day as it is in our day, just without all the technical stuff that the devil has at his disposal.

In further thought on the class on the Bible mentioned earlier, it was driven home very aggressively that we need to be workmen of God’s Word if we want to be serious about the things of God. This is a very fair statement because you’re probably going to be a workman in a number of things throughout your lifetime, why not put some work into God’s Word?

I’m amazed at the amount of time people put into reading the news: whether it be locally, nationally or worldwide. I can understand wanting to have a general knowledge of what’s going on. However, our culture has been tricked into thinking that you need to know this and that without any idea of the toll it takes on the heart and mind.

Jeremiah 15:16 tells us, “Thy words were found and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.”

Jeremiah declared this revelation from God because he knew how important it is to put positive wonderful words into our minds. You should do this on a regular basis and be consistent. We need to learn how to put the words together in the sentence, verse and context to get the whole picture so that we understand God’s heart for mankind.

1 Timothy 2:2 tells us, “Who will have [wills that] all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

This seems like an exaggerated figure of speech, but it is His desire. God knows that not everybody is going to be saved. His Word was given for all mankind, but man is going to do what man is going to do. In the meantime, we as believers who love our heavenly Father and His wonderful Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, should continue to do what the believer’s in Berea did in Acts 17:11:

“…they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

So, why not be a workman of God’s Word? Funglimpses and all: Thanks for reading! Respectfully submitted. Will Grove

 

 

 

 

December 26, 2019

Just a Few Words

Now that Christmas is behind us, I wonder how many people who could care less about the accomplishments of our lord and savior, profited from the celebration of his birthday, which as we know is actually on September 11^th. Without looking at the news I am sure a lot of people profited and I’ll also bet that they are glad that there is a Christmas Season that has so much commercial impact. Many business bottom lines are determined by the period of time from November 1^st thru December 30^th. However, we are instructed in Matthew 6:33:

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

In the context leading up to that verse, it refers to how God will take care of your needs.

Jesus Christ said in John 10:10b

“…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

The “abundant life” is a spiritual life and a large part of that is to build our reliance on God and our trust in Him that He will meet our needs regardless of the seasons of the year or the economic advantages they might bring.

People seem to enjoy the Christmas Season in our country and fortunately it at least shows that we are basically a Christian nation and regardless of what scriptural error may be on display, at least people’s attention is pointed to the birth of Jesus Christ.

When one looks at the birth of Jesus Christ, what a wonderful moment it must have been for Mary, the mother of Jesus, when she was given the news that she was going to birth the Christ.

Luke 1:26-33:

“And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

Those were some pretty potent words from God delivered by Gabriel. Although no human knew it at the time, that promise extends to us of the Church of the Body in this our time and place because Jesus Christ came to make eternal life available to everyone who believed in him, and that eternal life is part of that kingdom that shall not end.

Jesus Christ opened up his ministry with a very direct explanation of his purpose in Luke 4:18:

“The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor: he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Everything that occurred in Jesus Christ’s life, beginning from his birth through his ascension built to the Day of Pentecost, when life changed with God’s giving of His gift of holy spirit. Now we can do the works that Jesus Christ did and more.

John 14:12 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.”

What a statement and a promise! The challenge is to make it an active part of our life.

We see that during Jesus Christ’s ministry, he sent out the twelve apostles to do what he had been doing.

Mark 6:7: “And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits.”

That’s the same power we have with the gift of holy spirit. They were to preach and minister. We are to preach and minister and to operate the manifestations of holy spirit that Jesus Christ came to make available. In doing this, we will be doing the greater works that Jesus Christ talked about in John 14:12.

Romans 10:14,15: “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed: and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”

I am thankful for the Christmas Season, because it reminds people of the birth of Christ. We needed the Christ to show us how to bring glad tidings of good things and to believe God to get man out of the mess he was in. We need the Christ for an example of how to love and walk with God in our personal lives. We need to be thankful to God for doing what He did to put Jesus Christ on this earth, so that some day we will see the “fullness of times” which will begin with the gathering together of the Church of the Body of Christ!

But for now, funglimpses to all! Thanks for reading. Respectfully submitted. Will Grove

 

 

 

 

I’ve been a student of the Bible since March of 1974, and the reason I became interested then was because of the love in the hearts of the people that I found myself around and it’s never let up in all these years. Such was the case this past weekend in the North Georgia Mountains at our Fall Advance, sponsored by Harbor Light Fellowship. The people in attendance take God’s Word very seriously and with the freedom to express themselves, with Christ in them, it makes them a lot of fun to be around.

I was asked to pray publicly at a small meeting the Sunday morning of the Advance called The Morning Watch. One of the things that I said was that “it still blew my mind that I was able to operate spiritual power.” And it does! Jesus Christ himself said in John 14:12:

John 14:12: “Verily, Verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

The greater works he was talking about was speaking in tongues and tongues with interpretation, which were not available until the Day of Pentecost. The works that he did included seven of the nine manifestations, which is spiritual power. Operating spiritual power trips up a lot of the Christian world today because dealing with spiritual matters to them is dealing with the unseen, the unknown and it’s hard for the senses to comprehend unless you’re rightly taught.

That was not the case at our Advance because everyone there takes scriptures like Ephesians 1:3 to heart.

Ephesians 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:”

All spiritual blessings include the manifestations of the spirit as listed In 1 Corinthians 12: 7-10. These are the works Jesus Christ did minus speaking in tongues and tongues with interpretation. To operate these requires love and believing and when you get a large group of people together who understand that, the fellowship is very sweet. One of the greatest things of the whole weekend to me, was watching the children get taught in the children’s fellowship. What wonderful little people they are and they get to hear it from the get go.

This is what I refer to as the Power for Abundant Living lifestyle. That lifestyle actually began on the Day of Pentecost and prevailed for a certain period of time in the First Century and then faded into the dissemination of different denominations. The Power for Abundant Living lifestyle consists of not only being born again of God’s spirit but understanding what the new birth means to an individual. It is certainly not considering yourself to be born again of God’s spirit and then living in condemnation and frustration wondering whether you’re good enough to talk to God or to do any of the things He says you can do. In Philippians, we are told,

Philippians 4:13: ” I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

This is not a promise made to frustrate the seeking Christian. If you study the context of this verse, you’ll see that it’s referring to all things according to God’s Word: nothing negative in there. And you can do all things according to God’s Word. Jesus Christ did them daily without hesitation. What it takes is great fellowship with our Heavenly Father and believing.

There was a resurrection of God’s Word that started in Ohio back in the 1940’s, with the Biblical teaching, research and fellowship ministry of Victor Paul Wierwille. Dr. Wierwille fell asleep in 1985, but the ministry of God’s Word which he put together by God’s grace and mercy, still stands today with many people, and I personally saw the manifestation of that this past weekend in the hearts and lives of all the wonderful believers. I just cannot see how anybody who wants to have wonderful fellowship with likeminded believers and enjoys a peaceful environment, would not have wanted to be there.

Romans 10:15: “…How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.”

How true! I believe that anybody who truly loves God and His Word and His wonderful son, our lord and savior, Jesus Christ, would want to preach the gospel of peace and to bring glad tidings to those around them. I heard a young man who had been witnessed to in recent months by a wonderful believer, speak in tongues and interpret in Spanish and it just melted my heart to hear that because it told me how much he loved God and His people and the fellowship of the believers around him.

Such is usually the case when believers get together who have heard the truth of God’s Word and endeavor to work it in their lives. We want to build our believing, energize our prayer lives, operate spiritual power and look forward to the return of Jesus Christ.

The next time you get a chance to get together with a larger group of people in a Power for Abundant Living life style Advance, take the opportunity and treat yourself and the other believers because they’ll love your fellowship!

Funglimpses and all! Thanks for reading. Respectfully submitted, Will Grove

 

 

 

 

 

Being Thankful

On September 22, 2017, I wrote some thoughts on being a thankful Ambassador, and today I’d like to continue that line of thinking because of some recent traveling that I’ve had the occasion to do.

I was recently in San Francisco with my family and I was reminded of what a lovely city it is and at the same time I was sorrowed at the amount of spiritual oppression it holds. I was taken aback by the homeless population and the homeless enclaves I saw. It is a fact that societies will always have poor and homeless. Jesus Christ himself said in

“Matthew 26:11: For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not.”

This is not new, but seeing it in such an aggressive manner, gave me thought to reflect.

There is a class on the Bible that I took once which has as its foundational scripture:

“John 10:10b … I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

“1 Timothy 2:4 Who [ God] will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

The truths in the Bible brought to life by this class can set you on the course of seeking the more than abundant life that Jesus Christ said he was bringing.

Lack of spirit life can certainly result in a lack physically and even if you have not the spirit and prosper physically it simply means that you’ve cashed in on one of God’s great laws and that is believing. Believing works for anybody and that’s called grace. It is also a sign of God’s justice because God’s Word tells us that the rain falls on the just and unjust alike.

“Hebrews 11:6: But without faith [believing] it is impossible to please him [God]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

This is not a casual condition. It is necessary to want to seek God and believe in Him in order to get the rewards that Hebrews talks about.

I began by expressing being sorrowed by the plight of the homeless but with a homeless person there is always a background as to how and why they got there and the reasons may be as numerous as the sand on the seashore. Regardless of what you’ve been through, there is no one that can’t be raised from the dead spiritually or physically by the everlasting arms of God.

Jesus Christ showed it to be so during his time and it’s not changed a bit in this our day. Just by sheer logic, it would be a small matter for God, Who created the heavens and the earth, to bring people out of their physical and spiritual dregs.

This brings my thinking to being thankful. I am sure that most of us are appreciative of wonderful things we have. Wouldn’t it be nice if as much thanks went to God for the things we have as there are “thank you” cards that are sent around? There is a line in a Christian song called, “It’s Gotta Be God” that says, “when your heart is heavy and your thoughts are less than kind, an attitude of gratitude is your best state of mind. Just count your many blessings and God’s perfect peace you will find.”

Not only is that God’s Word, but that’s also logical!

“1 Thessalonians 5:1: In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Regardless of how high or how low you think you are, there is always something to be thankful for. Sometimes people talk about having a bad day. And people, do indeed, have bad, from time to time. However, there’s nothing too small or too big for God to handle. Even if you’re really sick, you can always look forward to God’s healing you.

I’m sure that the man who was healed in Acts 3 after being born lame didn’t just walk away wondering if he’d really been healed, for in the later part of verse 8 it says he was,

“…walking, and leaping, and praising God.”

That’s being thankful!

Psalm 118:24: “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

So yes, I am thankful! Thankful to God, my heavenly Father; thankful for my lord and savior Jesus Christ, who did what he did that we can have the new birth; thankful for God’s many blessings in my life; thankful for the family of God to which I belong; thankful for the gift of holy spirit, which allows me to directly communicate with God; thankful for a healthy body and sound mind; thankful for my immediate family, who loves God and His Word and finally I’m thankful that it’s fun to be thankful because it keeps your mind young and healthy.

So why not be thankful?

Funglimpses and all – Thanks for reading! Respectfully submitted. Will Grove

I have been wanting to take a look at the two words “prayer” and “worship” for a while because I think that both words are used quite often in our culture without much attention as to the Biblical meanings of either. So often you hear people say, usually in unfortunate situations, “our thoughts and prayers are with you” and many a church marquee will have the times of their “worship services” for those interested.

John 4:24: God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

“Worship” is used twice here and that gets my attention, because most denominational churches call their services, “worship services”. I’ve heard Church activities and music bands called worship groups and worship bands. The word “worship” is used much in the Old Testament and a Dictionary definition of worship is: “adoration, homage or veneration given to a deity.”(Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary)

So it would seem that a group of people gathering to give their attention in thanks and appreciation to God would be called a worship service, regardless of the design of the service. The profit of a worship service might depend on the integrity of the ministry involved and the knowledge of God’s Word they possess and believe

The Bible speaks of two types of prayers: praying in the spirit and praying in the understanding. Praying in the spirit was first manifested on the Day of Pentecost when the twelve Apostles spoke in tongues.

Acts 2:4: And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The Bible teaches that speaking in tongues is praying in the spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:3: Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed [curses Jesus Christ or curses God]: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

The Bible absolutely teaches speaking in tongues and we believe that speaking in tongues is praying in the spirit and that every born- again man or woman can do it and that it is a manifestation of the spirit and not a gift.

That being said, it is obvious that the Bible teaches that there is praying in the spirit and praying with your understanding. Jesus Christ never spoke in tongues, because it was not available until the Day of Pentecost, but his life and ministry came to make it available. Although he didn’t speak in tongues, he was the master at prayer. Numerous verses in the Gospels record his prayer life.

Luke 6:1: And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.

This was the day before he chose the twelve and it was a monumental time in his life, perhaps the biggest decision he’d had to make up to that point. He prayed in his language, perhaps silently and out loud. I’ll bet it wasn’t a one way conversation. I’ll bet God talked right back to him just a fluidly as he talked with God. What a time that must have been! What a time of fellowship.

That’s the kind of fellowship the Father wants us to have with him. I think too often we restrict ourselves and put God in a box, thinking that we can only pray at certain times and in certain places.   You can talk to God (prayer) off and on all day long, wherever you are, whatever you’re doing. You can do it in a worship service: you just need to be decent and in order so that it doesn’t get confusing. Confusion would not give God the glory.

In Acts 12, Peter was apprehended and put in prison, probably with the intention of killing him. In Verse 5, we read,

Acts 12:5: Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

The Church, the believers, kept prayer going for Peter and I’ll bet they prayed both in tongues, which is perfect prayer to God and in the understanding. As the record goes on, God sends an angel to get him out of prison. Good things happen when people pray with believing, which I am certain is how the believers in this record prayed.

Matthew 21:22: And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Prayer is not a casual situation. If you’re not going to take it seriously and build your confidence in God’s ability and willingness to answer your prayers, you might as well not bother with it. If you’re going to take prayer casually, you’ll get concerned when you don’t see answers to your prayers, and that is only due to lack of believing. That’s a hard truth, but it’s true!

One of the biggest challenges that any believer will have with their walk with God is rising up to their believing privileges in Christ Jesus. “Yes, Jesus did it because that was Jesus. That’s not me!” That is not the position that God wants you to take if you’re trying to live your life according to His Word. He already knows everything that’s going on with you, so why not put your cards on the table and take everything to him.

When I say that, I don’t mean wishing harmful things on other people who have ‘wronged’ you. It’s gotta be according to his Word, and revenge is not according to His Word. So often in manifestations I’ve heard it said by God, “…nothing too big or too small”. So challenge yourself: talk to God either audibly or within yourself. Speak in tongues as much as possible. The more you communicate with him the more you’ll grow spiritually.

John 4:23: But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

So yes, when you speak in tongues and when you talk to God in your understanding, you are being one of the true worshipers that the Father seeks in Verse 23, and that’s a really good thing!

I think that sounds pretty good. I hope this has been helpful. I’ve been very blessed and thankful for this moment to look at prayer and worship with you.

Funglimpses to all! Thanks for reading. Respectfully submitted, Will Grove

 I’ve just come from a wonderful camp in New York State that featured the presentation of God’s Word from some of His wonderful teachers, plus the great fellowship that arises when His Word is taught. I learned of God’s righteousness, His love and His forgiveness. I grew in my appreciation of His wonderful Son, our lord and savior Jesus Christ and what his life means to me. I learned that the Bible is a love story of a loving Father God and His great love for His children. I learned that I have Christ in me and that I can operate the great power of God and in the name of Jesus Christ, I can do much. I learned that I need to love myself and forgive myself and that there is nothing God won’t do for me according to His Word.

With that I’d like to look at a wonderful gospel record of a forgiving father. In Luke 15:31 we see the conclusion of a record where a man’s son took his inheritance early and went out and wasted it. When the circumstances caught up with him, he became destitute for a while. But he always had his father he could come back to. We see that the elder son was offended with his father’s celebrating the return of his brother, because he felt his father favored his brother over himself, who had never transgressed his father. Verses 29-32 of that record: “And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.” Isn’t this true of so many of us. You don’t have to physically go out and blow a lot of money or whatever. But you can sure be lost in your mind. It’s about the same thing: if you’re lost, you’re lost. However, Jesus Christ so loved that he made it available for us to come back to God at any time. God has already forgiven us and if we look to Him, He will help us to forgive ourselves. That’s a big deal, to be able to forgive yourself! And just because you’re born again of God’s spirit doesn’t mean you can’t get lost in your mind. A lot of people teach that when you’re born again, everything is or should be perfect. That’s not true! The immediate change is spiritual but we have to work it and believe it. 1 Peter 1:23 tells us, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed [which corrupts], but of incorruptible seed, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” You can’t lose it: It’s there forever. Our job is to work it and to understand it and to profit from it so that we can live that more abundant life which Jesus Christ said he came to make available in John 10:10.

There’s a song called “He’s the Healer of Broken Hearts”. That is so true because in the name of Jesus Christ hearts can be healed and restored. God has made Jesus Christ the head of the Church to which you and I belong to and in his name, many wonderful things can happen: spiritual power can be manifested. In Acts 3:6 a man was healed in the name of Jesus Christ. “Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” This man had been crippled since he was born. The same power that created the heavens and earth is the same power that is in the name of Jesus Christ. Healing a man like that is no harder than taking a drink of water for God. We can push past the resistance of our minds and operate the power of God if we just decide to do it.

Philippians 2:10,11 speak very highly of the name of Jesus Christ. “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Vs 9 tells us, “Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.” How the devilishness of the world has tried to belittle the name of Jesus Christ. He is our lord and savior. He is God’s master plan for the ages. He completed God’s plan of redemption and salvation for us and believed to get it done. Therefore, he is our primary example in all things spiritual, because he was The Spiritual Man of all men. He knew that God was exalting him. It could have gone to his head and made him arrogant, such as what happened to Lucifer. He could have reacted negatively to the disappointment and hurt of Judas. Instead he was the epitome of humility and had the love and forgiveness to give him the sop at the last supper.

So where are we with all this? It’s very simple! It’s in our best interests, as Christian men and women, to dedicate the rest of our lives, or until the Lord returns, to making that name of Jesus Christ primary in our lives. He is God’s only begotten Son. We have him in us spiritually, and there is no reason why we can’t do exactly what Peter and John did in Acts 3:6. That kind of stuff should be commonplace in our lives. It may not be, but it should be and why not?

Funglimpses to all! Thanks for reading. Respectfully submitted, Will Grove