A Decade of Expectation and Preparation

As one year winds down and another is on the doorstep, prophetic people often seek God for a fresh word for the coming year. Many diverse prophecies had already been given, so I really hadn’t sought the Lord to hear one myself this year. I was surprised when He did speak to me a couple of weeks ago about the coming decade. Here’s what I heard:

In 2020, we are entering a decade of expectation — expectation of the coming of the King. It will also be a decade of preparation — preparation for His coming.

I remembered Hosea 6:1-3:

Come, and let us return to the LORD: for He has torn, and He will heal us; He has smitten, and He will bind us up.
After two days He will revive us; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight.
Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come to us as the rain, as the latter and former rain to the earth.

He is calling us to prepare for His coming by returning wholeheartedly to Him. In Revelation 2:4, 5, Jesus chastised the Ephesian church for leaving her first love. He exhorted her to remember, repent, and do the first works. Revelation 19:7 says, “…The marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready.”

In Hosea 6:2,  we see that first He will revive us, and then He will resurrect us.  Jesus arose on the third day. We will experience a “third day” resurrection into our glorified bodies as well. (We are now in the third millennium since Jesus returned to heaven. Since “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8), there is a possible correlation between the third millennium since Christ’s resurrection and our “third day” resurrection.)

Finally the Lord said, “Throw the nets out one more time.” The accompanying thought was that this time we will receive a great catch of fish. I believe this is about a last great harvest of souls before Jesus returns. (See Luke 5:4-6.)

I want to clarify that I am not saying Jesus will delay His coming for His bride for another ten years. Nor does He have to return for us by the end of the decade. Jesus made it clear in Luke 12:35-40 that we should always be watching and waiting for Him. He will appear when we aren’t expecting Him to. It could be tomorrow, if the Father so chooses. I believe He will come very soon, and I yearn for Him to do so. But until He does, we are to be in expectation of Him and preparing for Him as a bride readies herself for her wedding day.

In this next decade, let’s eagerly

• Expect the coming of the Lord Jesus,
• Prepare our hearts for His coming, and
• Throw our nets out one more time, to receive that final harvest for His glory.

 

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my resources page?

I have books, audiobooks, and audio workshops for you on prayer, prophetic teaching, and more.

 

 

Knowing the One Who Satisfies

I was frustrated with the way my life was going. At the time, if anyone had asked me to describe my state of mind in three words, they would have been “discontented,” “disappointed,” and “discouraged.” I felt I had done all the right stuff, but nothing was changing for the better. All I could think about was how things were not as they should be.

In the middle of that mess, the Lord revealed Himself to me as “the God Who Satisfies.” He asked me to focus more on my Promise Keeper than on the promises He had given me. And He highlighted several Bible verses to help me shift my attention off my frustrations and onto Him. One of them was Jeremiah 31:14: “… And my people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord.”

All of us could come up with something we’re not happy about — some of us more than others. Many Christians are frustrated and miserable, feeling there must be more to life than they are experiencing. There is a gnawing sense inside of a greater destiny, a greater purpose, but it eludes them. Maybe for you it’s not destiny, but more down-to-earth desires:

If only I had a husband (or wife). If only my marriage were better.
If only I had the job of my dreams.
If only I were doing that ministry God showed me.
If only I had children. If only my grown children paid more attention to me.

God is eager to give us many things our hearts long for. He is extremely generous. This is why He has put thousands of promises in His Word — and He wants us to have them all! Here are a few which specifically mention satisfaction:

Psalm 91:16 — With long life will I satisfy him….
Psalm 103:5 — Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 107:9 — For He satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness.

As much as the Lord wants to give us things we desire, finding satisfaction in Him needs to come first. He knows the longings of our heart. He is keenly aware of the difficult places we are in, with no relief in sight, and He is compassionate toward us concerning them. But He wants to give us light, peace, joy — even contentment — in the middle of our situation, as we learn to know Him as the God Who Satisfies.

The apostle Paul understood this truth. He told Timothy, “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6). In Philippians 4:11, he said, “I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content. I know both how to be abased and how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” Notice that he had to learn it. It was a process for Paul.

It was a learning process for Abraham as well. Putting our satisfaction first in God does not come naturally to us. In Genesis 15:1, God approached him with this wonderful statement: “I am your shield and your exceedingly great reward.” Abraham didn’t even respond to that. He headed immediately into, “But, what will You give me, seeing I am childless …?” (v. 2).

Abraham did not at that point value intimate relationship with the Lord as much as he would later on. Yet, God was gracious toward his mindset and entered into a marvelous covenant with him. However, He also took Abraham through years of getting to know Him before the promised son arrived. In the meantime, Abraham matured to where God honored him by calling him “the Friend of God” (James 2:23; Isaiah 41:8). Becoming the friend — learning to be satisfied in the Lord — came before the other desire was fulfilled.

One of the highest honors we could ever hold is being thought of by God as His friend. There are varying levels of this. We can be a friend among many friends, who are loved and yet not particularly close to Him. Or, we can be the type of friend Abraham became — near to God’s heart, putting Him above our wants. This is the intimate friendship reserved for those who have learned to pursue Him as our deepest, most abiding satisfaction. When we do that, peace and joy rest inside us in the greatest measure possible. “All these things shall be added unto you” becomes the by-product rather than the goal (Matthew 6:33).

If you are feeling discontented or unfulfilled in some area of your life, I encourage you to ask the Lord to reveal Himself as the God Who Satisfies. He will not disappoint you, and you may be amazed at how much rosier life looks, even in the midst of your present circumstances.

 

River Life: Entering into the Character of Jesus,
by Lee Ann Rubsam
(A Bible study for adults)

 

 

 

The Names of God,
by Lee Ann Rubsam

 

 

Small Beginnings, Influencers, and Cupbearers

I know I have written on this topic before, but it’s on my heart once again.

In the last thirty years or so, I have seen a mindset within the charismatic/prophetic church which has brought a great deal of discontentment and disillusion to some believers. It’s the emphasis on being somebody special — special in the sense of being more than everybody else. We’ve been encouraged to achieve “greatness.” Many of us have been given personal prophecies that we would be important “influencers;” “world-changers;” great evangelists, prophets, worship leaders, or whatever. In short, we’ve been molded into thinking that if we don’t have some kind of celebrity status, there is something wrong with us.

We’ve been told, “Don’t despise the day of small beginnings” — with the implication that we might start small, but it had better get bigger! We’re encouraged to serve first by cleaning toilets, because eventually our faithfulness will be noticed, and we will graduate to better things (where cleaning toilets is no longer part of our job description). I suppose it’s the same “dream big” mentality that pervades all of American society, where every little girl or boy theoretically has the potential of someday becoming President. We’ve just repackaged it a bit in Christianity.

Along the way, though, some have become sadly disappointed when these illusions of greatness did not materialize. They’ve given up, wondering what went wrong or where they failed. Still others continue to chase after that pot of gold (personal importance) at the end of the rainbow, while it always remains out of reach.

I suspect God never intended for us to have expectations of being a “somebody.” We already are somebodies in His eyes, because we are His sons and daughters. We are already “a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9) of priceless value, just because we are His. I don’t think He ever wanted us to aim at graduating from scrubbing toilets into something “better.” Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, didn’t He? He said that in the Resurrection, He would seat us at the table and serve us (Luke 12:37). How amazing! Not even Jesus has graduated from serving. It is His eternal nature, and it must become ours.

A few days ago, I spent some time praying part of Ecclesiastes 9:10: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might….” I promised the Lord that I would do whatever He brings to my hand, no matter how insignificant it might seem. For me right now, that means devoting myself to serving my elderly mother, making sure she feels loved and well taken care of. It means spending time listening to people, praying with them, answering their questions about spiritual things when I am able, and helping them in little ways here and there which are unlikely to be noticed on a grand scale. It means cherishing my husband and children. It also means that right now I can’t pursue some things I would have preferred to do if I had the time.

I see a lot of other Christians in the same position, some serving with greater dedication than I could ever hope to. Selfless giving in small ways is precious in the Lord’s sight, if we do it humbly and joyfully for Him. These acts of kindness, every bit as much as miracles, signs, and wonders, are the works and greater works which Jesus said we would do, in John 14:12. Don’t think so? Take another look at 1 Corinthians 13, with its message about noisy gongs and clanging symbols versus loving when the rubber meets the road.

Years ago, I taught a Bible verse to our small children when I put them to bed at night: “And whoever will give to one of these little ones a cup of cold water to drink, only in the name of a disciple, most assuredly I say to you, he shall in no wise lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42). We recited this verse together over that last glass of water they requested before going to sleep at night. It’s a fun memory.

Whether you ever become well known or not, do with all your might whatever the Lord gives you, moment by moment. Don’t miss out on the many opportunities to serve Him and the people around you while you wait for some big destiny thing. And remember, giving that cup of cold water, only in the name of a disciple, will be rewarded by the King, too.

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All-Surpassing Peace in a Shaking World,
by Lee Ann Rubsam

 

 

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

Last time, I wrote about a dream I had concerning the Church. Here is one more, with a different message:

In the dream, I woke up on the day I was supposed to have eye surgery at the hospital on the north side of our city. The surgery appointment time was 7:05. I looked at the clocks in our kitchen, and the one on the wall said 6:15. The microwave clock said 6:30. I panicked, thinking I didn’t have enough time, no matter which clock was right. And I still had to take a shower.

I asked my husband Paul what time it really was, but he didn’t seem to know. My mom changed the clock on the microwave to 7:30, thinking that was the correct time. When I pointed out the error to her, she laughed and said she would change it again. But nobody seemed to know what time it really was.

I became overwhelmed as I realized I might not have enough time for a shower before my appointment. But I was going to try anyway. I now discovered I didn’t have my clothes ready, either. They were stuffed tightly in my purse, and I couldn’t seem to get them out. I poured powdered laundry detergent into the purse, all over the clothes, and then realized I had now made a huge mess of them. The dream ended with my dad trying to help me fix the situation.

Whew! How would you like to have stress like that going on? And what does it all mean?

Here are the main points I understand: A critical event is looming on the horizon, there isn’t much time, and nobody seems to understand what time it really is.

I believe the dream is speaking of the return of Jesus for His Church, and we are not ready.

I had an appointment for eye surgery at the north side hospital. “North” often speaks of heaven, where God is.  At the appointed time, we will see Jesus as He is. We will see clearly.

1 John 3:2, 3 — “… But we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man who has this hope in him purifies himself, even as He is pure.” (Note that I desperately wanted to get that shower in!)

1 Corinthians 13:12 — “For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know even as also I am known.”

While nobody in the house seemed to know what time it really was, I was keenly aware that the time available was extremely short — maybe shorter than we thought.  I didn’t know if I had enough time to get ready, but it seemed like I probably did not.

I am not sure if the numbers I saw on the clocks had deeper meanings, but this is what I did understand from them:

7:05 — The appointed time has been set.
6:15 — The time is very short before that appointment.
6:30 — The time is even shorter than we thought.
7:30 — Some people are totally off on the timing, expecting the appointment to take place much later than when it actually will.

My mom mistakenly set the clock for later than the appointment time. Some Christians are putting the time of Jesus’ return off with their prophecies and theology, not realizing that their idea of when Jesus will return is actually after the appointed time God has set.

In the dream, I felt very unprepared and not clean, and I wanted desperately to remedy that, but I was trying to do it in my own strength. I couldn’t lay hold of my clothes. Sprinkling dry laundry detergent over them sounds a lot like our human efforts to spruce ourselves up outwardly, but inwardly we’re still a mess — and our Father in heaven is there, trying to assist us with this, just as my father in the dream tried to help me.

Yet, we do have a part to play in getting ready. Revelation 19:7 comments, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”

So, is the dream saying we cannot possibly be ready when Jesus comes? No, it is a warning to wake up and understand what time it is. The appointed time for His coming for His bride is sooner than we may have realized.  We need to make adjustments now.  Jesus is returning for a beautiful bride, who is “without spot or wrinkle … holy, and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27). While we can’t clean ourselves up by human effort (Ephesians 5:26 says Jesus sanctifies and cleanses us by the washing of the water of the Word), we do need to cooperate with Him by listening and obeying.

He’s coming sooner  than we think. “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him“ (Luke 12:40, NIV). We don’t want to end up like the five foolish virgins in Matthew 25.

How do we make sure we are ready? Come to the Lord for cleansing. Each of us knows the areas of compromise in our lives which need to go. We must lay aside whatever distracts us from the Lord. Seek His face, call on His name for a fresh love for Him, and eagerly look for Him. He is coming for those who “love His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8). “Unto those who look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:28).

In the dream, the time of the eye appointment was 7:05. Let me finish with Psalm 70:5: “But I am poor and needy; make haste unto me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer. O Lord, make no tarrying.“

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Hearing God Through Your Dreams,
Audio teaching by Lee Ann Rubsam

 

 

 

 

 

The Spirit-Filled Guide to Personal Prophecy,
by Lee Ann Rubsam

 

 

A Dream About the Church

Today, I’d like to share a recent dream, which I feel is about something currently happening in the family of God.

For most of the dream, I was acting as an observer.  I saw my daughter sitting in the driver’s seat of my van, and she seemed to be stalled. Pulled up alongside of her in another car was a well-known actor of bygone days. He was someone who had done several TV series on occult or paranormal themes. He was smiling graciously at her while advising her on how to get the van running.

He told her to put water in the gas tank. In her ignorance, she trusted that he was really trying to help her, so she did as he said. I knew she had just ruined the van.

At this point, I left my observer position. I hurried behind the actor’s car with a pad of paper and pen to write down his license plate number, so I could turn him in to the authorities. But then I heard him chuckling about what he had duped my daughter into doing. He was also laughing at me for thinking I could turn him in. I suddenly realized that, because he had not personally poured the water into the gas tank, but had fooled my daughter into doing it to herself, there would be no case against him in a court of law.

My interpretation:

Vans and cars usually represent a person’s life or ministry. Vans lean more toward meaning ministry in my dreams.

I felt that the actor represented the devil (perhaps also evil or deceived people he works through). Actors play roles which are not their real selves, so here was a man who was pretending to be nice and to give sound advice, but his intentions were entirely evil. He preyed upon the ignorance and innocence of my daughter.

My daughter represented younger people in the faith, either biological or spiritual sons and daughters. She blindly believed someone was trying help her, just because that’s what he wanted her to think. She did not discern the source of the information she received. Hence, she ruined the van by following his evil advice. This was due to extreme ignorance in basic car care, too.

My daughter watered down the fuel. We cannot mix the pure fuel of the Word and of the Holy Spirit with other substances. We need to stick with what the Bible says and not adulterate it. This is a trap many Christians fall into. They absorb  secular, humanistic thoughts, opinions, and advice, not discerning the unholy sources from which they are coming. They end up thinking and living just like non-Christians, even ruining their own lives by following beliefs and tactics which are not from God. They can’t even pin it on the enemy, because they do it to themselves through ignorance of the truth and lack of discernment. An absence of prayer and reading the Bible are major reasons for this ignorance and inability to discern.

Meanwhile, the devil is enjoying deceiving God’s people, thereby rendering them ineffective and even ruining their lives.

I noted that my daughter was not able to get my van going in the first place; it was already at a standstill. The evil advice she took just finished the job. I felt this was saying that in our families and in the Church, we hand our ministries over to the next generation without equipping them to know how to drive them.

What is the solution? 

Those of us who are older and/or leaders in the family of God must train our sons and daughters (both biological and spiritual) in the fundamentals of the faith, the Bible, and in discernment, so that they are not duped into thinking evil is good, “lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices”  (2 Corinthians 2:11). We must emphasize the importance of daily prayer and time in the Word as well. The generations behind us will not be able to keep the kingdom of God, or their own personal lives as believers, moving forward without these things.

In our churches, we must also realize that we cannot water down or compromise the “living fuel” of the Word from the pulpit. Our gospel must be centered on Jesus, rather than on a me-istic message of personal success.

Do you have any further thoughts to add? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

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Hearing God Through Your Dreams,
Audio Teaching by Lee Ann Rubsam

Prayer — Let’s Not Complicate It!

If you have been following Out of the Fire for a while, you know I like to provide practical steps to effective prayer, hearing God, and the gifts of the Spirit. That’s because it’s how I personally like to learn. “Show me how! Give me the down-to-earth scoop on this!” My goal is to share principles from the Bible which make whatever aspect of the Christian life we’re talking about as easy to grasp as possible.

However, I don’t want these how-to steps to become some kind of methodology. They are guidelines, not rules. God is not about formulas. He wants us to develop ever-deepening relationship with Him — a growing hunger for the “more” He invites us into and an increasing awe of His infinitely beautiful nature.

In my last post, I talked about the self-help mentality which has invaded the Church. Since the fall into sin in the Garden of Eden, we’ve had a tendency to insist on doing things for ourselves, rather than depending on the Lord. The realm of prayer is not exempt from this error. We want a method which will give us answered prayer every time, where, if we input the right stuff, God will automatically spit out the desired response. We like having everything neatly boxed and wrapped, don’t we?

As a result, teachings keep arising which promise us that magic prayer bullet. We saw it with the extremes some Word of Faith people got into: “Say it, and it’s yours.” “If you speak the right Bible verses over your situation enough times and with unwavering faith, you’ll have what you need.” Many people slipped from having faith in Christ and His Word into trying to have faith in their own faith. When things didn’t happen as they had hoped, they either condemned themselves, became disillusioned with God, or walked away from believing He does miracles today. (This does not mean everything brought by the Word of Faith movement should be rejected. I am only speaking of extremes that some got off into.)

A rapidly spreading fad in charismatic circles is the “courts of heaven” teaching. It depends on formula, personal experiences, and shaky application of Scripture coming from an Old Covenant law mindset. The basic premise is that you must know how to present your case in a heavenly court room. The reason you haven’t been getting answers to prayer is because you weren’t aware of the legal court system in heaven, so you didn’t present your case correctly there. Therefore, the devil has a “legal right” to hinder your petitions. Buy the books, attend the conferences, and you will learn how to “navigate the courts” to receive answers. Voila! You have your magic prayer bullet.

Various teachings on how to get breakthroughs are nothing new. Trying to find the cure to unanswered prayer has probably been a concern since the Church’s inception. Over the decades, I’ve heard lots of teaching involving lists of multiple conditions we must fulfill and step-by-step formulas for how to attract God’s favor. At its core, it’s really all about works, isn’t it? We hasten to say we are saved by grace, not by works, but then we attempt to live out the Christian life (including prayer) in a totally works-based fashion.

Here’s a simple hint: When your prayers become about you doing/saying everything exactly right, rather than about Jesus’ unlimited ability and eagerness to help, something is radically wrong. When you become fearful that you might not get your answer because you didn’t fulfill a list of qualifications, this is bondage.

So, how should we pray to get answers?

1. We listen for the Holy Spirit’s leading. That starts with a lifestyle of filling ourselves with His written Word. It is His primary way of speaking with us. Even when we listen for His voice in our hearts (the other thing we want to cultivate), much of what we hear will be drawn from the Bible. The Holy Spirit loves to bring Scripture and Scripture principles to our remembrance.

Maybe you’re thinking, “But I don’t know my Bible very well yet.” Just start reading it now. Trust the Lord to still help you, even if you are weak in this area. He will be your teacher, and He’ll make up for your inadequacies.

2. Lay aside your concerns that you might fail at praying rightly. You will make mistakes and have some false starts here and there. That’s just life on earth. Prayer is something we continually grow better at, especially as we come to know the Lord more intimately. But we will never do it all perfectly. We will always need to depend upon Him.

Your heavenly Father is compassionate toward your limited understanding, your emotions, and your fears about the outcome. Pour it out to Him. You might start out with prayers which are less than faith-filled, but as you continue to come to Him, He will get you there. Remember, this is not all about you. It’s about how big and completely able the Lord is.

3. Expect God’s course correction and move with Him. He will show you new angles on how to pray in any given situation as you persist in coming to Him. He will correct any wrong direction you start out in and get you headed on the right course, as long as you stay open to His leading and don’t stubbornly resist Him.

4. Ask Him for His input. “How do You see this? How should I pray? Please guide me.” What a wonderful opener! We don’t tell Him how it’s got to be; we ask Him how it’s supposed to be. This is part of staying yielded to Him.

5. Pray in your prayer language. The Holy Spirit knows exactly how to intercede according to the Father’s heart, so even if your inclination on how to pray isn’t exactly right-on, you will still end up praying correctly as you pray in tongues. It is direct communication between your spirit and the Holy Spirit, without the human mind getting in the way. It opens you to a greater understanding of the need and God’s desired conclusion to it, so that you become better equipped to pray correctly in your native language, too. Praying in tongues also builds faith, according to Jude 20: “But you, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.”

While we tend to complicate prayer, God does not. It is simply coming to Him, in all our inability, and asking Him to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. We bring Him our lack, our hope, and our trust. And we keep doing it. Psalm 62: 5, 8 says it best: “My soul, wait only upon God, for my expectation is from Him. … Trust in Him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us.”

If you would like to learn more about how to pray effectively, please take a look at the Article Series tab at the top of this site. You will find a wealth of info there. You might also find my books for intercessors (listed below) helpful.

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The Intercessor Manual,
by Lee Ann Rubsam

 

 

 

 

The Intercessor’s Companion,
by Lee Ann Rubsam

 

 

 

 

Your Intercession Questions Answered,
by Lee Ann Rubsam

 

 

Self-Help Christian Living

“Seven Reasons You Don’t Get Healed.” “Ten Steps to Personal Success (and Why You’re Not There Yet).” “Eight Reasons Your Prayers Are Not Answered.”

Do these titles sound in any way familiar? Christian teachers preach and write on topics such as these a lot. They start by telling us how we’re doing it all wrong and then offer us the alternative solutions they’ve discovered. Some of us become hopelessly overwhelmed — first, by the extent of our revealed failure, and second, by the myriads of steps we must take to fix ourselves. We feel tempted to cry out in despair, “Why should I even try? I’ll be sure to do something wrong to keep me from receiving what I need from God anyway! Why does it have to be so hard???!!!”

The truth is, the message presented by many of these teachers is basically flawed. It is a humanistic, self-help approach, just like the secular world churns out. Based on following methods and formulas (backed up with a smattering of isolated Bible verses, of course), it is all about depending on yourself, not on God. You determine your own destiny by either doing all the stuff right or doing it wrong. Mess up? Too bad. You should have followed the game plan laid out by Christian Expert So-and-So.

The true Bible message, however, is quite the opposite. We are to depend, not on ourselves, but on Jesus. Consider what our Lord said in Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” It’s like a fresh, revitalizing breeze washing over you, isn’t it?

Ever since the Garden of Eden, the devil has been whispering to mankind, “You can have all the knowledge for yourself. You can be like God.” It was an invitation then to rebellious independence, and the message has not changed. It has only been repackaged by well-meaning Christian teachers and sometimes backed up with Bible verses which make it seem right. Meanwhile, the Lord has been calling to us, “You can’t do it yourself. You never could. Come to Me, and depend on Me. I want to help you.”

The deception is in putting a formula first, with a dash of God thrown in. The truth is in making relationship with the Unlimited One our foremost priority and then letting Him lead us. He wants to show His might on our behalf, to override our weakness with His strength as we walk through life’s difficulties with our hand in His.

The Pharisees of old made it difficult for their listeners to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 23:13). Likewise, some Christian teachers today are hindering God’s children from entering into a joyful, victorious life by placing the emphasis on ourselves, rather than on Jesus. Perhaps 2 Corinthians 11:3 is an appropriate verse for us to freshly apply: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity which is in Christ.”

“The simplicity which is in Christ.” Let’s remember that.

My next post will be an extension of these thoughts. We’ll talk about some current teaching on intercession which I find troubling, and how we can receive answers to our prayers without striving in the flesh.

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All-Surpassing Peace in a Shaking World,
by Lee Ann Rubsam

 

 

 

 

River Life: Entering into the Character of Jesus,
by Lee Ann Rubsam