INTIMACY WITH GOD JOURNAL
SEPTEMBER 2008
Articles in this issue:
IMPROPRIETIES - We need a ‘see-through’ heart.
OLYMPIC GOLD - Where’s yours?
LINDA AMES AGLOW – Sept. 9th
ARMAGEDDON BRIDE CONFERENCE/Followed by THE GOVERN MANTLE SOLEMN ASSEMBLY- Nov. 1st
Check ‘Happenings’ for these upcoming events!
Mike and Linda Schreurs
A woman who is pregnant is enthralled by hearing the first heart beats of her unborn child. This is true of God’s people. They long to hear, feel and experience the very heart beat of the Lord God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. The one who created them with divine destiny!
Every human heart longs to be heard, known and appreciated for who they are. There’s no greater identity and destiny than that of being a child of God! God the Father is enthralled by hearing the first spiritual heart beats of those who are ‘born again’ into His kingdom. (John 3; Luke 15:7; Gal. 4:19) What an awesome honor and privilege!
Papa Abba loves you and I so much, He can’t wait to release His designs on us! He looks upon our hearts with great pride in knowing we will grow and advance into Kingdom principles as our hearts pound ever more passionately for Him. Take comfort in knowing - the Lord delights in you! Isaiah 62:4
News travels fast, especially bad news. Human nature being what it is, seems to gravitate to the negative much quicker than to the positive, thanks to our fallen nature Adam and Eve gave us.
However, when one is a born-again believer, the positive overtakes the lower nature and one is trained in seeing things from a divine perspective. At least, that’s the goal of the Christian life. We are to ‘be in the word, but not of the world.’ (See 1 Cor. 10:3) Far too often, we fail miserably in that goal.
The Lakeland Revival in Florida is awash with all kinds of rumors. Sadly, some of it is true. Tabloids are like steroids! They can’t wait to run stories about the failures of church leaders. But even those who write them are themselves, along with all of humanity, aligned with Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” No one comes through life unscathed by sin, sickness or disease in one form or another. Until the Lord Jesus Christ REIGNS totally, completely and wholly within our transparent hearts, we too are exposed flesh!
Purity
Purity counts for everything in the Kingdom of God. Its how the story ends! The last book of the Bible is very clear about this aspect for those who call Jesus their Redeemer. Revelation 19 is beautiful! It gives clear insight to our heavenly Bridegroom Jesus’ return for His pure, spotless Bride (Eph. 5:27) when it says in verse 7-8: “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”
I have always felt our hearts ought to be as Waterford Crystal. It should be clear and clean enough to reflect the Lord’s Face, His glorious countenance of holiness. After all, He’s explicitly asked us to ‘be holy as He is holy.’ (Lev. 11:44; 20:7; 1 Pet. 1:16) As someone noted lately on the Elijah List, “We must be messengers of His Face.”
Egg on our face?
Let’s not be caught in improprieties with ‘egg on our face’ because we wanted a moment of fleeting earthly, but deathly pleasure. We’re all tempted in various ways. We live on planet earth so that shouldn’t surprise us. But it’s when we give in to that very temptation that spells scary consequences. James 1:13-16 is clear and concise on this matter: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” That’s serious, my friends. The question is: “Is the ‘giving-in’ worth our soul dropping down into hell?” I think not!
We must carry ourselves in such a manner that we would not be shamed by what the world would see if they could peer into our hearts or see us when we are alone. Let us wear our hearts on our sleeves for all the world to see, so that ‘what you see, is what you get!’ Let us not be a façade of lies and deception, saying one thing, but behaving uncommonly in our private lives. Either you love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength – or not. It’s either or. There’s no fudging that. We may fool the world, or even those closest to us, but God sees inside the deepest recesses of our hearts. Why not give Him our best? He deserves it. His holy, pure, loving and shockingly amazing, torturous blood gave us life! We need to honor it at every turn in life’s road.
Beware
We all must remember with sobering thoughts that Judas was one of the 12 who had been sent out by Jesus to cast out devils and bring in the harvest of souls. (Matt. 10) Nonetheless, in the END, he chose a detrimental path! May our ENDING be better than that!
Don’t you know in these End Time days in which we find ourselves, the Lord is separating the wheat from the tares?! (Matt. 13:36-43) Let us beware of God’s holy Words breathed in Matthew 7:19-20, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”
Intimacy with God, knowing Him up close and personal, will keep your soul in love with Him, passionately pursuing Him in all righteousness, holiness and purity. It can be no other way. You can have your cake and eat it too! He is the whole meal and the dessert. He is the way, the truth and the life. He is our eternal delight!
Anointing
I have for years now, anointed my body most every single day because of this issue of purity. I touch my eyes with the oil that every glance would be toward my Eternal Love, Jesus. (Matt. 6:22; Job 31:1; Ps. 25:15) I touch my ears that they would be tuned to hear His beautiful, strong voice at all times. (Pv. 2:2; Rev. 2:7) I place the oil on…
- My mind that I would stay focused on things above and not below. (James 4:8; Col. 3:2; Philip. 4:7-8)
- Each side of my head, the temples, declaring that as for me and ‘my house/my temple/my body,’ I will serve the Lord. (1 cor. 3:16,6:9; 2 Cor. 6:16)
- My lips, that I speak only gracious, kind, loving words as only Jesus would do. (Ps. 34:1, Ps. 141:3)
- My neck, that I not become stiff necked like the children of Israel who came out of Egypt ungrateful for signs, wonders and miracles that brought them thus far. (Ex. 34:9; Pv. 29:1)
- My feet, that every place the soles of my feet set will be holy. (Joshua 1:3; Ps. 119:105)
- My hands, that I would do the will of the Lord. (James 4:8; Philip. 4:13)
- My heart, that it is wholly committed to the Lord and that it stays pure before His divine Presence. (Ps. 119:9; James 4:8; Rev. 2:23)
Fight the good fight
We need to be as King David, who even though he was as sinful as anyone of us, could still pray in Psalm 51: 10-11, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Thy Presence, and do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me.” True godly repentance gives us a clean slate from which to grow into our divine destiny of going from glory to glory. (2 Cor. 3:18) But it must be true repentance and not that of the fear of getting caught that causes false tears. We’re called to, “bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Matt. 3:8)
It’s time God’s people clean up their acts. And that includes all of us! Many are acting like spoiled, little children throwing a temper tantrum because they want the Father of Lies goods as well as Abba Papa’s goods. You can’t have it both ways! “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you… Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:1a; 3) “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not loose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.” (Gal. 6:7-9)
Ladies and gentleman, fight the good fight. It’s worth it! (1 Tim. 1:18)
Here in our state, we were all beaming with joy when one of our own, an Iowan, a USA Olympic athlete Shawn Johnson, won her first silver medal (later winning more as well as the gold). That evening, the Holy Spirit beckoned me to Haggai 2:8, “The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,” declares the Lord.” It certainly puts it all in perspective doesn’t it?
It’s fun to win medals! It’s fun to receive the accolades of the world. But all these pale in comparison to the crown of gold as we win eternal life through the Lord Jesus. Purity should wonderfully run rampant throughout our lives as we reflect God’s glory to the world around us!
The world has had its 2008 Olympic Games and they were astounding! But our eyes are ever focused on the eternal crown of life that is before us. Let’s get a spiritual and scriptural context for where we’re headed:
“Do you not know that those who run the race all run, but only one receives the price? Run in such a way that you may win. And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.” (1 Cor. 9:23-27)
Let us discipline ourselves in such a way that causes purity and holiness in every area of our lives. It will be a testimony to the world that Christians are indeed distinct from all others. (Duet. 14:2; Titus 2:11-14) Our victors crown is glorious! It is:
- Life, Rev. 2:10
- Salvation, Ps. 149:4
- Jewels, Zech 9:16
- Grace, beauty, splendor, Pv. 4:9; Isa. 62:3
- Blessings, Pv. 10:6
- Everlasting joy, Isa. 35:10; 51:11
- Eternal, 1 Cor. 9:15
- Righteousness, 2 Tim. 4:8
- Glory, honor, majesty, Ps. 8:5
- Knowledge, Pv. 14:18
- Love and compassion, Ps. 103:4
- Joy, Isa. 35:10
- Children (spiritual ones as well), Pv. 17:6
But all these, as wonderful as they are, will be laid at the feet of Jesus because His Presence alone is enough! (Rev. 4:10) Even so, unless we accept the sacrificial Crown of Thorns, denying ourselves in order to take up Calvary’s Cross of endless love, we are as nothing! 1 Cor. 13
Do you have this crown? If not, why not? The race of life is filled with many hurdles, but Jesus can take you over every one of them. Trust Him now.
ARMAGEDDON BRIDE, Linda’s new book by Creation House is here! It can be found at our IWG web site or www.amazone.com (give a review!), or at www.parable.com, or at many local book stores. Lou Engle of The Call and Jill Austin of Master Potter Ministries are among those who have endorsed this book. It’s is uniquely different from anything else on the market! It’s about the fierce global battle for the definition of intimacy, purity and holiness. More than at any other time in history, we need the Blood of Jesus to have all our ‘spots’ removed, as well as having fiery passion for Christ so all our ‘wrinkles’ can be ironed out. The capsule of ‘time’ is fast running out!
ARMAGEDDON BRIDE CONFERENCE: It’s free! Held on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008 at KHOP, Ankeny, Iowa. (www.khopdsm.com) Linda will bring a message regarding the contents of this book. Two sessions, one at 9 AM, the other at 11 AM, will bring fresh insight, understanding and alertness to the times in which we now find ourselves. Are you ready for the fire of testings that will soon come upon the earth? Are you equipped with extravagant intimacy with God? Are you living a victorious Christian life? Come and participate in the depths of God’s love to a greater degree than ever before!
THE GOVERN MANTLE SOLEMN ASSEMBLY follows this conference. Led by Randy Bixby of KHOP, along with other community leaders, it begins at high noon concluding at 4 PM. This is a strategic convergence for the global time of fasting and prayer for the Body of Christ, the nation and the Presidential elections.
Linda speaks at Women’s Aglow, Sept. 9th in Ames, Iowa. A Brunch Breakfast is served at 11 AM. Location: County Inn Motel and Suites, Dayton Ave. & SE St.
Wednesday Bible Study resumes on Sept. 10th, 7:30 PM, at 6829 River Bd. Dr., Johnston, Ia.
INTIMACY WITH GOD MINISTRIES (*All gifts tax deductible)
Mike and Linda Schreurs, P.O. Box 1294, Johnston, Ia. 50131-1294. Phone: 515-270-0231