Archive for March, 2010

Spiritual Growth #11 Seeing The Unseen (Mar. 19, 2010)

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

I have a question. Jesus said, “seeing we see not and hearing we hear not.” What is it that we should be seeing and hearing?

One of the things that should be happening as we grow spiritually is that we should be seeing spiritual things more clearly. Paul commented that we see dimly as through a smoke colored glass. The other day I was sitting on the couch and I was thinking about eternity and I realized eternity is not somewhere in the future, it is here now. We have eternity, it is all around us and very few people are aware of it.

All the natural things around us are temporal and very short lived. The eternal things last forever. We at times have a problem seeing the natural things around us, say nothing about the eternal things that are unseen by the natural eye. To see the eternal, which is spiritual, we must use our spiritual senses. We look around us with our natural eyes and, if we are seeing anything at all of the creation around us, we have to say it is awesome. And yet, all of this is very short lived and corrupt. Our senses are very limited both in sight and sound even when we are using those senses to the utmost. We are unable to imagine, the color, the sound, the beauty that surrounds us in the eternal that is around us.

As spiritual growth happens, we begin to see the unseen, the eternal things. As we come out of darkness and into the light, our spiritual eyes are opened and we begin to get glimmers of the eternal.

I have heard the statement, “he has blind faith.”  Faith is not blind! It is through the eyes of faith that we begin to see the eternal. As our faith grows or develops, we see the eternal things that are around us, and close to us, more and more clearly.

As this kind of spiritual growth takes place our day by day walk becomes more stable, our behavior is better and the temporal things do not have as much effect on anymore.

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Newsletter Message Spring 2010

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

What Do You Believe?

by Ralph Nault 

I have found that if I allow the Holy Spirit to continue to lead me from the darkness into the light a wonderful thing happens. My faith increases!  The reason I say this is because the Holy Spirit keeps giving me more revelation, and as I receive more revelation I have faith for more things.

What do you think of the statement; “My people are destroyed because of lack of knowledge?

If you are lacking knowledge, you are also lacking faith in some area. You cannot apply faith in something you don’t know. I know we have all been given a measure of faith; but I also know that if faith is to be any blessing to us, we must give it direction, we must use it.   I have heard some people say; “I believe in God!” That is a broad statement that doesn’t mean much.  Many people from all around the world believing in all kinds of strange things say; “I believe in God!”

I expect that you know a large number of people that have received Jesus Christ as their Savior; so do I. Some of these people do not have much peace, joy or victories in their life. What is lacking? They lack the knowledge to apply the faith they need to have peace and joy. My faith, what I believe, has tremendous affect on my daily life. I have been amazed at some of the things Christian people believe and I have also been amazed at how little some of them believe.

I like to ask questions that make people think about what they believe. One of the answers I often get is; “The bible says!”  and what they say is correct, but that is not what I am looking for. I want to know what they believe not what the bible says. The bible says many wonderful things, which does not mean you believe it. Faith has to do with what you and I believe.

In areas of your life that you keep suffering loss and defeat, I would encourage you to ask some questions about your faith. What knowledge am I lacking? How can I apply my faith in this situation? Do I believe in the wrong thing?

I pray that our Father in heaven will bless you with true knowledge and your faith will be more active.       

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Spiritual Growth #10 (Mar. 12, 2010)

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

Hebrews 5:13-14

For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.

But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

Note that in the first verse it say’s “only of milk.” If we remain on milk alone we remain a babe. What is milk? Milk is when someone else has to feed us all the time and we have not learned to feed ourselves. One of the childish remarks I have heard many, many times down through the years is; “I need to go and be fed.” Some pastors, and ministers have been guilty of instilling this in there congregation, instead of telling them to learn to feed themselves. They are guilty of making people reliant on them instead of the Holy Spirit.

What we need is our spiritual senses trained by using them, and feeding ourselves by spiritually listening and doing what the Holy Spirit is teaching us and directing us to do. Spiritual growth and maturity happens when we becomes led by the Spirit; and reliant on the Spirit not the church.

We can know the Bible end to end, quote scriptures, work hard in church, be a priest or minister, use the gifts of the Holy Spirit and still be only a babe in the kingdom of God.

How do we practice using our spiritual senses? I don’t know any easy answers! I do know that we have spiritual senses and that they need to be used if we are to function as spiritual people. If we want to see spiritual things and hear spiritual things and do spiritual things our spiritual senses must be working. When we began this ministry, Pauline and I had nothing to offer anybody. The Lord told me he would tell me what to say and show me what to do, so all I had to do was listen and act. My first act was to open my home, and have the meeting He told me to have. That was exercising my spiritual senses. You might ask what spiritual sense? Faith! I now realize that my faith is a gift from God and it is a spiritual sense.

Hear me! Every time you apply faith in some area you are exercising a spiritual sense.

Every time you get that little nudging to speak to someone or call them or pray for someone and you act on it you are exercizing your spiritual senses.

Faith is a part of our spiritual sight that shows us the eternal things around that our eyes can not see.

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Spiritual Growth #9 (Mar. 6, 2010)

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Institution 

Often when the lord has something to say to me, it is when I first wake up in the morning. I like to lay still and be aware of Gods presence in me and with me. One morning the Holy Spirit spoke to me about institutions; later I looked it up in the dictionary.

I don’t want to explain all that it means you can look that up if you care to. There are certain aspects that I thought were interesting. The Holy Spirit was showing me that the church often becomes an institution and when we start being institutionalized we begin to lose touch with the Holy Spirit.

One of the meanings of institution is (establishment) there must be rules and regulations established.

Institutionalism was also interesting; 1: emphasis on organization (as in religion) at the expenses of other factors. 2: public institutional care of defective, delinquent or dependant persons.

Why is it; that if we allow ourselves to be institutionalized in a church, we would lose touch with the Holy Spirit?  It is because we go back to a set of rules and regulations that have no power instead of being led by the Spirit.

Several times in the past years I have seen groups of people meeting in homes or halls; praying together, studying together, and the Holy Spirit working mightily in their midst, when someone would come up with the idea; we should form a church; and they did! Soon after most of the gifts of the Holy Spirit were not manifested any more. Why did the manifestations cease?

As soon as you begin to be institutionalized you are once more submitting yourself to the letter of the Law not the Spirit of the law.

We need the organized church it is an instrument to be used to reach the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God never intended it to control you or become a prison to anyone. We are not to be led by the church; we are to be led by the Spirit

2 Corinthians 3:6 

Who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

As soon as we allow the institution to direct our life we start coming under the influence of the letter of the law; we lose the freedom that is in the spirit of the law. The Holy Spirit works by the spirit of the law, in Galatians 3:3.

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the spirit are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Again in Galatians 3:5

Does He then, who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

Understand this! We can work in the church, be involved in the church and enjoy the freedom that is in Christ. Do not allow yourself to be institutionalized by the church. Don’t become one of the foolish Galatians. Don’t fall back under the letter of the Law that kills.

                                                                                                  

Thank you for your comments Judy. I didn’t use them all I don’t want the message to be to large.
Judy’s comments:
I agree with you that spiritual growth has something to do with becoming increasingly aware of the Holy Spirit from God and of our own spirit. For me, spiritual growth is about an increase in the functioning and awareness of my spiritual senses, my intuitive knowings and my perception of the witness (quickening) of the Holy Spirit in my spirit.

It also is about an increase in my awareness of the fullness of the presence of God in my spirit, as well as my awareness to commune with Him and enjoy His presence.

Thanks for stirring up the issue of spiritual growth.  Judy

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Wants And Needs! (Feb. 25, 2010)

Monday, March 1st, 2010

My Dear Children,

I was listening to a program the other day; the speaker was talking about how the United States is a consumer nation and we consume a lot more then the other countries do. We throw away stuff that is brand new; look in the trash and see; we buy stuff that we never use. We also buy stuff and we have no money to pay for it

I have a question I want you to think about!

Are all your needs being met?

One of the things I have come to see through the years is that greed keeps us unhappy. How is it affecting your life?

I remember several years ago at a meeting in Wisconsin; we had prayed for several people and then someone spoke up and said; “now let us pray for the both of you”. They all gathered around us and laid a hand on and asked us what our needs were. I looked at Pauline, she looked at me, and we both realized that we did not have any needs.

We do not have a lot of money in the bank. As far as the world is concerned I guess we would be considered poor. We are not poor, we are rich.  We are wealthy, and we don’t have any needs. We do have a few wants, but no needs.

My dear children greed has a silent voice, it says; “You need this! You need that! Greed stirs up your wants and makes you unhappy if you don’t get your wants satisfied. We are a nation that is told day after day, you need this. No! The truth is you don’t need it. Our nation is in the condition it is because so many people wanted so much more then what they needed.

My dear children my prayer for you is that you will not be caught up by greed and wants, but that your needs will be taken care and you will see your true wealth and have an abundance of joy and happiness.

If you have a need go to Jesus first and don’t delay!

My Love and Prayers,

Dad  

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