INTIMACY WITH GOD JOURNAL
Articles in this issue:
DEEP PAIN - How do you cope?
AUTUMN SOAKING - Can you be still?
ARMAGEDDON BRIDE CONFERENCE and SOLEMN ASSEMBLY – See Happenings!
Mike and Linda Schreurs
The Lion has roared!
Who or what has roared at you lately? Has your autumn so far been filled with fierce trails and tribulations? Or have you been sailing along from the summer months into the autumn months with barely a skirmish? Either way, our Christian life calls us to be ever on high alert. 1 Peter 5:8 behooves us in this manner: “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
The enemy always attempts a cheap imitation of the Lion of Judah, our Lord and Savior, Jesus. He’s always a mocker of the things of God. (2 Cor. 11:14) He can roar big and loud, but there’s no power in it because he’s been defeated by the Blood of the Lamb! There’s a wonderful, calming knowledge in our souls that we can truly live an overcoming lifestyle each day of our earthly existence. We can reside in great comfort through the holy roar from God’s Throne Room, where our Eternal Lion of Judah reigns forevermore! Glory!
Linda Schreurs
DEEP PAIN
Has your heart ever been shattered seemingly beyond repair? This is not surprising! Give me the name of any human who has never known deep, agonizing pain of body or soul, or both. Martyrdom certainly encompasses that depth of pain, but most of us will not face that fate. Not one soul on earth could ever feel the horrendous agony our Beloved Savior Jesus endured as He cried out from the torture of Calvary’s cross. What heart rendering, gut-wrenching cries He made to God the Father while hanging in agony, “Why have You forsaken Me?!” (Matt. 27:46)
Do not think for a second you are alone in your deep pain. If our King of glory endured this, think it not unusual that you and I could and would as well. Jesus was the Word made flesh suffering for all humanity paying for our sins. Still, we are all in the human being ‘suffering club.’ Jesus Himself declared that in this life we will have troubles. (John 16:33)
Overcome
Precious people of God, we need to get a grip in the here and now. Yes there is pain, heartache and sorrow that come in various ways during our lifetime journey. It can never be avoided in this life. But the key to walking through the storms is still found in John 16:33. Just as Jesus overcame, we too, through the sacrificial Lamb of God, overcome. We are utterly and wonderfully victorious!
“…To Him who overcomes I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.” (Rev. 2:7)
“…He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” (Rev. 2:11)
“…To Him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.” (Rev. 3:17)
(Rev. 12:11)
“He who overcomes and he who keeps My deeds until the end, ‘To Him I will give authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father, and I will give him the morning star.” (Rev. 2:26-28)
“…He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” (Rev. 3:5)
“…He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.” (Rev. 3:12)
“…He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Rev.3:21)
True pain is living without Jesus! True sorrow, true suffering is to be without His holy Presence in our lives. Friends, listen to me carefully. Do not ever sequester yourself! The enemy loves it when you feel alone in your sorrows for he’s then able to take you further down a deathly path. Do not hide away to pine away and drift from your source of eternal comfort in Christ Jesus.
Get past it
Get past your pain through forgiveness. We need to remember that unless we forgive, we ourselves will not be forgiven. This is Truth and we must embrace that stark reality. (Luke 6:37) Our Lord led the way through example when He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know not what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) Most people never know the depth of pain they inflict. What does it matter? The Lord knows your heart and it is He who holds you up, not another.
Get past your pain through love. If God the Father could give His Son to the entire world as a sacrifice for sin because of His love for us, we can surely give Him our own self. Let everything else go! Go for God and God alone. (John 3:16; Matt. 5:44; 1 Cor. 13) He is our eternal source for all comfort, stability and joy.
Get past your pain through praise and worship because it breaks the yoke of bondage. (Duet. 32:1-6; 2 Sam. 22; Is. 61:1-3; Ps. 42) God is God and we are not. People hurt us. God does not. He is worthy of praise! He is always worthy no matter what’s going in our lives. Day and night, He is worthy! (Rev. 4:8) At all times, He is worthy! For all eternity, He is worthy! So praise, love and adore Him and step into the realm of the supernatural because He paid the price for you and I to do so! We can do this! We will step up, not down! We’ll go higher in our walk with Him than we could ever fathom!
The most horrendous pain known to humanity is the pain of separation from God! Without Him, we are nothing. So let us get past our flesh, get past the world’s inflictions of sorrows and get on with the life well lived in the Lord of Hosts! God’s Word offers great rewards for those who overcome suffering and heartache by the power of the Cross of Christ. Hallelujah!
AUTUMN SOAKING
Dear hearts, if you’ve been assailed by the enemy to new degrees lately, do not be surprised that the Lord knows this! He sees and understands because He’s ‘been there, done that’ on the Cross. Jesus suffered the most horrendous, unimaginable pain ever known to humanity, the tearring of a sin-ridden world away from Satan’s grip. But it bought and secured our sustained victory for all eternity. That’s worth shouts of Amens and Hallelujahs don’t you think?!
It’s extremely comforting to have an eternal friend in Jesus who knows what it is to suffer. Remember the old song: “What a friend we have in Jesus”? You may recall some of the words… “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear… O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear… all because we do not carry… everything to God in prayer.”
Wordless prayer
There is a level of prayer that is often not tapped into. Some call it contemplation. It bears much fruit! The world itself is so noisy and church can be noisy as well, but that can be a good thing. Nevertheless, if you’ve ever been in a service where a divine, holy silence sweeps into the room, it can take your breath away! There is a sense of awe that takes place at that moment. We need those kinds of moments to a sustained degree.
My precious friends, this is the hour we need to learn the wordless realm of intimate prayer which comes by way of soaking in the Lord’s Presence, even without the aid of music. This is scriptural as shown in Revelation 8:1. There is an utter profoundness to the POWER of God that’s released in holy silence. It caused all of heaven to ‘be still’ and KNOW GOD ALMIGHTY in all the splendor, majesty and power that He truly is! It will put the holy, reverential fear of God in you!
Shalom
We do not need to do all the talking when we’re in the Lord’s Presence. Ecclesiastes 3:7 tells us there is “a time to be silent, and a time to speak.” Listening prayer is very deep, holy and intimate. Do you desire this? If so, begin to drink in the Lord’s Presence, His Breath of love, to a new depth. (John 3:6) Allow your spirit to speak to the Holy Spirit. Love needs no words. This is the intimate place of deep, abiding fellowship with God.
In this Autumn season do some soaking. Learn to be still. Cease from fret, worry, anxiety, strife. If we’re constantly in turmoil, our souls cannot relax and wait upon the Lord. We can easily miss our next step up into the divine of God.
Sit down. Lie down. Wait on Him. See what He has to say about your situation. Listen. Practice silence. Be still. Be quiet. Don’t talk, don’t even intercede. Practice the oft quoted, but misunderstood Psalm 46:10, and truly be still and know God. It’s extremely peaceful because the Prince of Peace enters in. Shalom is so precious!
Take note of God’s Breath in Habakkuk 2:20, “But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.” And Zephaniah 1:7 is one I quote often when taking women on silent retreats: “Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near, for the Lord has prepared a sacrifice, He has consecrated His guests.”
If you’re longing for deeper intimacy with your Heavenly Bridegroom, perhaps you should be still and know Him in that beautiful, wordless realm of the spirit! Try soaking! It turns your shattered heart into a sustained Shalom!
INTIMACY WITH GOD MINISTRIES
(*All gifts tax deductible)
Mike and Linda Schreurs
P.O. Box 1294
Johnston, Ia. 50131-1294
Phone: 515-270-0231
*Member of MorningStar Fellowship of Ministries
Charlotte, NC - www.morningstarministries.org