Karen’s Parables

 

In the middle of a time of bed rest after being sick for more than a week, I woke up with an assignment from the Lord.   Apparently while dreaming, I found myself worried about how I had gotten sick, so I sought the Lord to ask if I had opened any spiritual door to allow in a spirit of infirmity.  Soon I sensed that nothing was wrong; I had simply caught a flu bug and my body was recovering.  I was relieved about that, but as my mind sometimes tends to do, I then began to wonder how I would justify that to others who might assume I was in sin.  (In the middle of typing the previous sentence, the Lord reminded me about how Job’s friends also assumed his trials were a result of sin in his life.  I guess I am in good company!)

It was during this time of questioning that the Holy Spirit asked me to remember what He called my ‘foundation stones’, or those truths I stand on as being foundational to my core beliefs.  When I know who I am and what I believe, my spirit can remain peaceful, and the fear of man’s opinion simply has no hold on me.  The Holy Spirit led me to begin ‘laying down’ (listing on paper) beliefs I could read and re-read during trying times.  Reminding myself what I believe, and what I stand for, will always help me stay on course.  He said that my sharing the list would also be a simple way to pass on to others the beliefs that lift my soul.  No doubt my list will be ongoing.

I was led to allow you the dignity of searching these things out for yourselves, so I have not added scriptures to this writing, as I usually do.

I encourage you to ask the Lord to give you revelation as you examine each ‘stone’.  Take what your spirit agrees with and disregard the others.  As always, my Father blesses me for being willing to spend the time to record my thoughts and share my list, but I get no personal credit for the contents.  I cannot claim even one to be my very own original thought.  All of my wisdom and spiritual understanding come directly from the Lord, and many of my thoughts were passed on to me from other believers.  You will probably recognize most of them, especially if you know me or if you listen to and admire the same saints that catch my attention. 

Be blessed as you lay down your own foundation.  The points that follow are not listed in any particular order of importance, but simply in the order in which they came to me as I wrote.  You will find that some resonate with you more than others.  Personally, my mind moves from subject to subject, so a truth that is grabbing hold of me this week will probably give way next week to something else the Lord is pressing upon my heart.

MY FOUNDATION STONES

·   God is good – all the time – and His ways are perfect, no matter what the circumstances, no matter what I see with my physical eyes or hear with my physical ears.

·   I am determined to not blame God for what happens to me by the will of the enemy or sinful man; even though I know that nothing happens without God’s allowing it.  God gave each of us an absolute free will, and bad things often happen as a result of God’s allowing us to exercise that free will.

·    God cannot love me more than He already does, and He will not love me less, no matter what I have done.

·    Jesus Christ is my cornerstone, the Rock of my foundation.  He is the rock I fall upon to break my hardened pride.

·    I will always have trials – they should never surprise me, or cause me to worry.

·    God will always apply the least amount of pressure for the shortest amount of time in order to bring in the greatest harvest.

·    When it is time for me to confront sin in my life, God and I partner in that process.  My part is repentance and behavior modification; His part is to heal me and change my heart.

·    If my ways are pleasing to God – if my heart is set to walk in holiness, then God will often cause even my enemies to be at peace with me.

·    In God’s ears, my heart is always louder than my mouth.  With people, however, it is quite the contrary.

·    Truth without love is cruel; love without truth is deception.  I must use truth and love like walking sticks.

·    Love covers a multitude of sins; grace allows me to walk out of those sins.

·    God’s grace heals everything I apply it to.

·    This life time is only a breath compared to eternity.  Since I am in training for eternity, I should make my decisions with an eternal perspective.

·    When I reach out to others, if they are not drawn closer to Jesus, then I have not produced much fruit.

·    I am the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, no matter the circumstances.

·    At all times I must be found worshipping the Creator and not His creation.

·    Unless I know God’s love for me (personally), I will give up early, or I will minister out of an attitude of religious pride.

·    I must have an unoffendable heart.  Jesus offended people all the time, and that always exposed their hearts.

·    The day I accepted Jesus as my Lord is the day I died to my fleshly ways.  A dead man does not care what you say to him.

·    Humility must always be my garment.

·    I will be known by my fruit.  I will be judged according to my actions rather than my words. 

·    No matter what I say, know that my heart and my actions do not contradict one another.  The depth of my love for the Lord is proven by the degree in which you can see Him in me.

·    In every situation that I can handle myself, I do not need a Savior.

·    Jesus is my everything – my absolute first love.  If he is not everything, then in truth, He is nothing.

·    God never promised to bless my plans.  He will never be my sugar daddy.

·    When people honor me publicly, I will thank them for their kindness.  Then as soon as I am alone, I will hand off that praise to Jesus.  I always know that all honor is His, and I do not need to assume a pose of false humility by brushing aside that person’s compliment.

·    God’s law was never intended to be the answer to sin.  It is the teacher that leads me to Jesus.

·    We do not engage in spiritual warfare in order to win, but rather to enforce the victory Jesus already won for us.

·    If I spend more than a few minutes dissecting my sin, I am guilty of pride because I am focused on myself rather than on my Savior.  It only takes a minute to deal with sin, to stop, repent, ask the Father’s forgiveness, and receive that forgiveness.  Then I can immediately focus my attention on Jesus again. 

 

This is by no means an exhaustive list, and no doubt as soon as I publish, I will remember a dozen other things I will wish I would have included.  But you get the drift.  Now you can begin the process of pondering each point, and deciding which stones you will add to your foundation.  May you be richly rewarded for taking the time to examine my stones and for conducting a serious inspection of your own.  Make Jesus your Cornerstone, and ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and revelation to set a firm foundation all around you.  Then, when the storms of life come at you in full force, you will be able to stand through it all.  May the Lord find you still standing when He comes for you.

 

The new year finds me once again embarking on a new spiritual journey, one that is promising to take me deeper into the heart of God, one that is moving me to a higher level in my walk toward eternity.  I welcome the invitation to hear more of God’s truth, and I sense a stirring of many who are weary and bored with being pacified with platitudes.  Life is changing for most of us these days, and the era of ‘feel good’ messages is about to come to a close.  That is very good news for some, frightening news for others.  Deep soul searching and convicting Truth tend to put our souls in a bind.  Once we have heard truth, we must make a decision – and take responsibility for the outcome – to let that truth penetrate deeply and cut away at our sin, or choose to deny truth and do nothing about our sinful condition.

 

Over the past several years, my ears have perked up every time I hear an End Times message or read a current events article that lines up with last days prophesies of the Bible.  Signs are everywhere, pointing us to the fact that we are indeed moving through God’s timeline very quickly.  Believers and unbelievers alike are becoming more aware of a change in the spiritual climate.  Even the media has picked up on it – have you noticed how many movies and television programs are based on the supernatural?  I believe we are very near to the end of this age, and perhaps my grandchildren will be part of the end-time army of the Lord.  God has laid out His plan for eternity:  in Scripture and prophetic voices, through signs and wonders, and by speaking to our hearts when we are so inclined to invite Him in.  We are wise to watch, hear, and investigate what He is doing. 

 

Last week as I looked back on my spiritual journey of the previous year, and looked ahead to what the new year might bring, I saw hints of where the Lord is leading me, and what I would write for my New Year’s piece.  I leaned back, at peace in the middle of tremendous turmoil in the world, having a fairly clear idea about my place in this end-time drama.  I began putting together my thoughts for an encouraging message I planned to post.  But, right in the middle of my orderly life (well, I guess it depends on what you call orderly) I walked right in to another Divine sabotage.  The message I had begun must be for another time.

 

Wandering through the bookstore (again!), I found a classic written by a lady evangelist who lived a hundred years ago.  Maria Woodworth-Etter was called by God to travel the highways and byways to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost.  As a young adult, she was taken into a trance and had a vision of hell, seeing millions of people blindly walking right in.  From that moment on, her heart was broken for those who would not be saved, and she gave her entire life to traveling and holding tent revival meetings all across the Midwest.  I knew I would love reading about her adventures, and absorbing her messages, but I was unprepared for the message that grabbed my heart.  In reading the account of her experiences, I became keenly aware that she preached salvation in a way I have not heard.  When she called sinners to repentance, she spoke Truth in such a way - and the Holy Spirit brought conviction in such a way - that people openly cried and repented and testified of their conversions.  Many would go into trances during the meetings, and after a time (sometimes many hours) they would come out shouting and praising the Lord.  Great numbers of people immediately turned from their old lifestyles, and over time they continued to walk out their newfound faith.  Many started churches or became missionaries.  Those who received physical healings told everyone they knew about the love of Jesus and of His power to save and heal.

 

I became troubled over what I have experienced for altar calls, and the ‘seeker friendly’ salvation message we are too often given.  Sometimes it seems as though we even worry about embarrassing someone by asking them to come forward and openly receive salvation.  Do we proclaim “salvation” too casually?  After we have repeated the magic words, are we really truly saved?  Have our hearts truly been transformed?  Or have we simply fallen prey to an illusion that we have received our get-out-of-hell-free cards?  And how long is it before we are back living in the world – walking, talking, and dressing like the world - having had no real life change and having no understanding of true conversion?

 

I sought the Lord for His thoughts on this matter that so troubled my soul, and He showed me this picture:  See yourself going to your nephew’s college graduation.  After the commencement exercises are completed, imagine the president coming to the podium, and giving the following message:  “A college degree is a very important thing for your future, so for those of you in the audience who do not have a college diploma, we have provided the ushers with extras.  Please ask for one as you leave.” 

 

Absurd?  Of course it is.  A diploma comes at a great price.  So does salvation.  Jesus paid the ultimate price for our salvation and although we cannot earn it, we also cannot receive it with nothing more than a few empty words.  Salvation cost Jesus everything, and in like manner, receiving salvation costs us everything.  Being ‘born again’ means choosing to lay down our old self and taking up the new life God offers us.  Salvation is a matter of the heart, not simply an exercise of going through the motions of saying the right words, doing the right things, acting in a certain manner, attending church, or participating in other religious activities.  Religion and salvation have nothing to do with one another.  When we are saved, our hearts are transformed and because we are changed on the inside, we also begin to change on the outside.  If I am living the same way and doing the same things I did before I gave my life to Jesus, then I had better re-examine my heart, and my salvation.

 

Are you saved?  Is your name truly written in the Lamb’s Book of Life?  Or are you living in the world and according to the world’s standards, lying to yourself while your soul slowly slips closer and closer to eternal damnation?  Did you go through the motions of saying the ‘sinners’ prayer’ and then walk away without transformation of your heart?  Are you professing to be bound for heaven, while still living like hell?  The time has come to examine our hearts, before it is too late.  We can no longer afford a seeker-friendly, feel-good, comfortable salvation message.

 

I pray that the Lord would draw you in to a Divine sabotage, to speak truth into you life, and give you visions of what is to come.  And I ask you to prayerfully consider the following questions:

• Are we being fed such a watered down salvation message that many people who think they are saved are not saved at all?  
• Have we become so tolerant that we are hesitant to disagree with anyone or anything?
• Are we so accustomed to our ears being tickled that we refuse to hear truth, and we reject anyone who speaks truth? 
• Have we become such pacifists that we are incapable of standing up for what we believe? 
• When we stand before a Holy God at the judgment seat, will Jesus look at us and say, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness?”

 

 

Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”

 

I John 1:6

If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

 

Matthew 25:13

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

 

John 15:6

“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw then into the fire, and they are burned.”

 

I Timothy 3:1-5

But know this, in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.

 

This time of year we often hear the phrase, ‘Peace on earth, good will toward men,’ the declaration the angels made when they proclaimed the birth of Jesus to the shepherds.  What a wonderful greeting it still is, and hearing those words makes us smile.  However, I have noticed that we often seem to focus on the lack of ‘peace on earth’ more than we notice the lack of ‘good will toward men.’  Isn’t it so like us to concentrate on the part over which we have so little control, rather than the part in which we can actually participate in a meaningful way?

 

Although we will not enjoy true peace on earth until after Jesus returns and sets up His earthly reign, we are instructed to pray for peace.  I strongly encourage you to pray for peace:  for Jerusalem, for the world, for our nation, for your community, and for your home and family.  After you have prayed, let your heart remain at peace in the middle of wars and rumors of wars, when everything around you is far from peaceful. 

 

As to the ‘good will toward men’ part, every day we are offered countless opportunities to further the cause of good will.  We can spread good will through our words and our actions, with our giving, by serving, and in loving one another as ourselves. God is love, and He invites us to receive that love and pass it around as acts of good will.  And there is no better time of year than when giving and receiving are on the minds of many.

 

Regardless of how, or whether, you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, I invite you to offer love, forgiveness, and good will toward men.  Jesus said that when we bring our sacrifice to the altar, if we have an offense against our brother, we should set down our sacrifice, go and make peace with our brother, and then bring forth our offering.  If you have a gift list, then I challenge you to take another look at it.  First, circle the names of the people on your list with whom you enjoy sweet fellowship.   Next, pray over each name you did not circle, and ask the Lord how to offer loving fellowship and good will to that person.  Then, with a pure heart and a free spirit, extend peace to your brother.  Once you have done this, present your gifts (sacrifices), in celebration of the season of ‘Peace on earth, good will toward men.’  Imagine the sweet reward you will reap when all of the names have been circled.

 

As we pursue good will toward men, we look more and more like Jesus, the One we honor at Christmastime.  In this way, we the Church distinguish ourselves from the rest of the world.  Who knows, perhaps the more we reveal Christ in our everyday lives, the more saints who do not know Jesus will desire to know Him.  God invites us to join in the harvest, no matter the season. 

 

Especially during this time of year, I pray that the Lord would bless you and keep you, that He would make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you, that He would lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace on earth, good will toward men.

 

Psalm 122:6

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  May they prosper who love you.

 

Isaiah 9:5-6

For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us, and the dominion will rest on his shoulder; the Wondrous Adviser, Mighty God, Eternal Father, called his name Sar-shalom [Prince of Peace]; upon the one with the greatness in dominion and the boundless peace that will prevail on the throne of David and on his kingdom, to establish it and sustain it through justice and righteousness, from now to eternity.  The zealousness of Hashem (“The Name”, YHWH), Master of Legions, will accomplish this!

(taken from The Stone Edition Tanach, Mesorah Publications, ltd)

 

Luke 2:13-14

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!”

 

Matthew 5:23-24

“Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way.  First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

 

Numbers 6:24-26

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.”