Category: Revelation (Page 4 of 5)

Once It Becomes Personal.

March 27, 2021 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“In the past I heard about you, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. And I am ashamed of myself. I am so sorry. As I sit in the dust and ashes, I promise to change my heart and my life.” –Job 42:5-6.

Perhaps Job’s faith in God had been handed down to him from his parents? Maybe it came to him through his listening to the oral retellings of old? Accounts of God’s goodness and mercy, of His great love for His children.

Whatever the channel used, Scripture clarifies that Job recognized there was a God. Job never denied He existed. We realize this in Job’s response to his wife when she flat out tells him to give up on this God who had just allowed one calamity after another to befall them: “His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. –Job 2:9-10.

Job surely had some level of faith. Some belief in the God of the old retellings, the God who went to great lengths to redeem, provide for, and protect His people. “I’ve also done it so you can tell your children and grandchildren about how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and about the signs I displayed among them—and so you will know that I am the LORD” –Exodus 10:2. Maybe Job had lived his life essentially mimicking, perhaps wholeheartedly, what he had observed his parents and family, neighbors and friends—those in his tribe doing or saying—wanting it to be true for himself, wanting to believe it all. Indeed believing, on some level, that this God is real. Remember though, that up until this point in Job’s story, he’d not encountered God personally yet. Job had only known Him as the God of someone else’s relationship. But until Job knows God personally—until anyone does, God remains impersonal, and their lives untouched by the enlivening, relational presence of His Holy Spirit at work

This is the case for so many of us before our relationship with God became personal, Jesus was just a person someone else has experienced. A head knowledge that had yet to touch our heart. A good man hanging on a cross, perhaps? A god among many other gods, maybe? Our mother or father or grandmother’s God? Or the symbol of some unreachable deity whose rules demand more than anyone can give? So then why even try to know Him for ourselves?

I know this is how it was for me.

Raised Catholic, I attended Catholic school in the 60’s—went to Mass daily with those in my class. I learned about Jesus certainly—knew He had a Father, God. I had heard of the Holy Spirit but quite literally never knew Him as anything other than the picture of the Dove I’d seen painted on the Cathederal ceiling, in paintings, or heard referenced in the priest’s homily. I had no clue He was an actual person—the Third Person of the Godhead. Like Job and so many others today, I had undoubtedly heard about God—had some cursory head knowledge of Him, but I did not know Jesus—personally, that is. I had never encountered God face-to-face, so to speak.

But one day, in the blink of an eye, right there in the Catholic Church, all of that changed!

No longer was God someone that lived outside of me in paintings, nor was He a man who hung on a cross over my bed; Jesus Christ was now alive in me—His Spirit at work in me. One minute I was dead in my sin, the next, alive in Christ—just like Job. “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” –Ephesians 2:4-5. And, as with Job, I too felt the weight of my many past sins. How I, too, had questioned God at every turn. Yet, by God’s grace and mercy, the weight of my sins drove me to God, towards true repentance. And in that scared moment of His visitation—I unknowingly followed Job’s example and, as the song says, was gracefully broken.

I’ve since learned this one thing over these many years of walking with the Lord:

God does not break us to harm us; instead, He breaks us that He might re-fashion us, working out of us—pruning away those unfruitful habits—those sins that repeatedly trip us up and stunt our growth, muddying His plan for our lives. Sins like pride, fornication, adultery, addictions, stealing, stubbornness, rebellion, and lying, just to name a few.

I know this first-hand because not only does God’s Word make this plain, but, by God’s grace, Jesus enabled me to turn away from the sins that had had a death-grip on me for so much of my life. By His grace alone, I was able to leave them behind me, running after God with all I had in me instead. And I’m still running towards Him today, now, more than ever! Yet, I have miles and miles to go in my learning more and more about this God I love. This man that came and changed everything—in an instant, and counting. See, that’s what happens when He comes; He makes all things new—not usually overnight—but most certainly over time. And, after having met the Living God personally, after having experienced His Love, mercy, and grace, I began to understand the breadth of His forgiveness. In my finite, weak-as-water way, I caught some dim glimpse of what it cost Him to save me, and that revelation drove me so far into God that now, all I want in this life, for the rest of my life, is more of Jesus. Catching a genuine glimpse of your sins against the unblemished backdrop of God’s Purity and Holiness will cause you to cry out in repentance, in humility.

We witness this piercing truth in today’s Scripture verse. Undeniably, this was the case with Job, listen: “In the past I heard about you, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. And I am ashamed of myself. I am so sorry. As I sit in the dust and ashes, I promise to change my heart and my life.” –Job 42:5-6. The Prophet Isaiah also understood this Truth, listen: “I was frightened and said, “Oh, no! I will be destroyed. I am not pure enough to speak to God, and I live among people who are not pure enough to speak to him. But I have seen the King, the Lord All-Powerful” –Isaiah 6:5. The Apostle Peter understood it as well—me too. Each of us touched by God, transformed in an instant by the power of His Holy Spirit coming and taking up residence within us, making all things new, understood, more believed, that we were sinners who’d been brought into contact with a Holy God. “When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man” –Luke 5:8.

The Pure Light of God’s presence unmasks every lie we’ve ever told ourselves about who we are—and who He is, exposing then the naked Truth, we are sinners in need of a Savior.

When we come face-to-face with the Living God, we face the depths of our depravity and our propensity for sin and sinning also. We become a witness to our self-justification, denial, pride, and those inflated opinions we hold of ourselves.And in this sacred moment, we must choose: to repent of these and accept Jesus into our hearts and lives, or to shut Him out—keeping Him then out there somewhere as the God of someone else’s relationship. And it is smack-dab in the instant of just such an awakening that we witness Job acknowledging God as His Lord and Savior in today’s Scripture verse.

My prayer in this season of hope and miracles is this: If you know of God, yet have not encountered Him personally, then right now, in these days leading up to Easter, to His death and Resurrection, His ultimate display of love—you’ll follow Job’s lead and say yes to having a relationship with Him, Move Him from being the God of someone else’s relationship, to being the God of your own.

The Simple Truth.

March 13, 2021 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth” –Revelation 3:15-16.

The days of lukewarm Christianity are quickly coming to an end. For some time now, pockets within the western Church have become image-driven; their performance, the standard of excellence they strive to meet—the smoke, lights, and the number of people walking through the doors week after week, their measure. The Gospel of Jesus Christ seemingly no longer reigning supreme; instead, it has been asked to take a seat right beside the world’s point of view—that ideology found within the hearts of unregenerate man.

Once driven primarily by Biblical principles, the western Church has dimmed the lights on what should be the ever-illuminating Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, making way instead for the counterfeit freedom that comes, supposedly, by following our feelings. It has forgotten what the word of God warns concerning those feelings: “The heart is deceitful above all things” –Jeremiah 17:9. It has instead taken man’s words as gospel in relinquishing God’s Word as its final authority. Somehow, the progressive thinker has taken the child-like simplicity of the Gospel message and contorted it into some complex ideology of their creation. And by their own doing, they’ve made communion with their Maker so inaccessible that the mere thought of knowing Him has become as far-fetched for them as some fairytale.

Yet the Truth is, while it most certainly is not always easy, following God is simple.

In Proverbs, the book of wisdom, the writer gives us a valuable key to opening our understanding of God. It gives us clear instructions on how to know God, yet this simple principle has been lost in the name of enlightenment. “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding— indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” Proverbs 2:2-5.

If you’re anything like me, you know what it’s like to have a loud mind. While coming up with ideas is easy, follow-through proves to be a more challenging feat. Typically, my carrying out an idea requires the know-how that isn’t always inherent in me. For example, if I want to do a house project, I will be more successful if I watch videos or get around someone knowledgeable in the subject. While on the flip side, I tend to give up rather quickly when tackling projects on my own.

Similarly, our desire to know more of God, about Him, His ways, and thoughts, must be cultivated. It’s great to want to know God, but if we’re not putting ourselves in an atmosphere conducive to finding Him, getting to know Him, we may never get there. God draws near to those who seek Him. So, seeking Him through reading His word, spending time with Him in prayer, asking Him for understanding, fellowshipping with other believers, and reading Christian books are just the beginning of our developing our personal relationship with Him. In our search for God, we quickly learn that there is no end to discovering His vast beauty. As we pick up the Bible and find His voice within its pages, He becomes the compass that continually points us towards His Truth.

Let me ask you this: what guides you? Whose voice are you giving ear to? Whose words do you accept as Truth? To what are you applying your heart?

I guarantee that if you fill your mind with the world’s ideologies over the Truth found in God’s Word, having a relationship with Him may end up feeling impossible and become far more complicated than it was ever meant to be. The promise in Proverbs 2 is that you will find the knowledge of God through storing His word in your heart. You will find the knowledge of God when you turn your ear to (in other words: soften your heart towards) Seeking after Godly wisdom, rather than pridefully rejecting it. You will understand the fear of God when you cry out to Him (or pray) for understanding. The simple Truth is this: if you seek Him, you will find Him. God promises this: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart.” -Jeremiah 29:13.

God wants your heart, to have a relationship with you—that’s the simplicity of the Gospel message. Not what some western Churches have turned it into, the smoke, lights, and numbers, the celebrity preachers. Not some cleverly-crafted theology that has nothing to do with Him—a theology filled with thoughts and notions that are so complex and far removed from God’s heart that one would need a Ph.D. to follow along! God never said, “you might find me when you try to seek me.” No. The promise is that when you earnestly seek Him, you will find Him. Our pure longing for more of God becomes often corrupted by our striving—by what we’ve turned God into—some false idea that “more is required of us.” When the Truth is, Jesus has already done what we never could! “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” 1 Peter 3:18

From the outside, Christianity, following Jesus, can look complicated. It may seem like it requires so much effort on your part. It may seem as though the standards set in the Bible are unattainable to you. Yet here’s the part that’s only realized as you surrender to God—as you fill your mind with the things of God and apply your heart to understanding His commands: your natural response becomes obedience. Standards you once thought impossible, become natural. And, the more you get to know God, the more you realize that He is your everything. “[Jesus is] the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” –Revelation 22:13. God is the giver of joy, the giver of peace, the giver of hope, and the giver of Life itself. The simple Truth is this: as we spend time getting to know God through His word, True-Life opens within us, and the secrets of His kingdom begin to take root in our hearts.

Our place in creation becoming clear as His presence becomes our home.

You see, God knew that salvation had to be simple. His desire is for us to be with Him both now and for all eternity, hence Jesus’ sacrifice—His Life, death, and resurrection. He knew that outside of His power at work in us, if we had to jump through hoops on our own to get to know Him, chances are we’d be damned to a life of constant striving and insecurity—never knowing, with absolute certainty, if we were indeed His. So, in His mercy and lovingkindness, God made it so that the Cross of Christ is our security, His promise to us, that can never be revoked. “God can’t break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us, in the order of Melchizedek” –Hebrews 6:18-20, Message Bible.

If you haven’t already done so, I invite you to search for God with your whole heart. Pick up a Bible and ask Him to make Himself known to you as you humbly seek His Truth. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” –Matthew 7:7-11.

Smoke & Mirrors

February 6, 2021 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses]; and nothing shall in any way harm you” –Luke 10:19.

If indeed you are God’s child, why then is He allowing _____ to happen to you? Why has He permitted this to touch your life at all?

Satan is the great deceiver. And as such, he slithers into the life of every believer at one time or another, shamelessly whispering the above question, accusation really, in our ears, taunting us…

His intent? To plant baleful, hate-filled seeds in our hearts—Satan has a malignant hatred toward God and His people. Wanting nothing more than to utterly destroy, demolish, kill, if possible, our faith and hope in Jesus, His Truth, and promises. He is continuously tossing seeds of doubt everywhere, great mimic that he is; challenges these, concerning God’s goodness, ever calling it into question. Ever hoping some of his seeds will eventually take root in our hearts. Ever challenging a true believer’s immutable belief that we serve a good and loving God who desires only what is best for His children. I’ve intentionally chosen to repeatedly use “ever” here, that I might stress the point of Satan’s never-ending assault on you and me as believers.

Being made aware of this then, be all the more vigilant! You must never ever allow Satan unguarded access into your heart, child of God! “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” –1 Peter5:8.

So, what does that mean “to not allow Satan to have unguarded access into your heart?” And how do we stop him once he starts with his insidious whisperings? Hear God’s Word, believer and yet believer alike. “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” –2 Corinthians 10: 5. In layman’s words, in the Spirit, you snatch Satan by the scruff of his proverbial neck, and you command him, by the authority Christ has given you, to bow before and answer to, Jesus’ Blood!

Allow me to backtrack a bit here to lay a bit of a foundation…

Satan is not omniscient—he is not all-knowing. Unlike God, Satan does not have the power or ability to read and know your every thought. Neither is he omnipresent—able to be everywhere at once. Nor omnipotent—having absolute power. These traits, or characteristics, being omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent, belong solely to our God. Remember, Satan is a created being. And, as such, must ask God’s permission before he can so much as touch one single hair on the head of a Blood-bought believer. Anything that Satan is allowed to do or have access to in a believer’s life must first pass-through God’s hands.

Satan wants you and me to forget about that part—forget that he must-have God’s permission before he can in any way, touch a believer’s life. Each of the Apostles can attest to this. At some point, all of God’s elect will. Having been forewarned by Jesus, The Apostle Peter came face-to-face with this very Truth the night he denied our Lord. “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” – Luke 22:31-32 emphasis my own.

And though Peter’s sifting was indeed life-changing to say the least, perhaps nowhere in Scripture do we see this Truth of Satan’s being allowed to sift God’s people more strikingly, more clearly, than in the life of God’s servant, Job.

God dispels any questions we might have about Job’s character or his love for God within the very first sentence of this Book. One cannot say then, nor surmise that perhaps Job had sinned against God. That he had done some-thing that violated God’s law, denied him in any way, allowing the enemy legal access to come in and disrupt his life in any small or significant way. “In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil” –Job 1:1. Chapter One goes on to detail, in part, the conversation taking place between God and Satan concerning Job, this blameless and upright man. How is it God would allow Satan, suggest to him even, to sift Job? Hear God’s answer. “O house of Israel, declares the LORD, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay? Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel” –Jeremiah 18:6.

It is here, in these moments, friends, when, like Job, our faith must also travel that distance from our hearts to our feet that we might stand strong in the day of testing; confidently walking out that which we’ve boldly professed. Ever calling to mind that He alone is God, and He will always have His way in our lives. Faithful to finish the work He’s begun in us. “Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand” –Isaiah 64:8; Phil. 1: 6.

Satan was convinced that the only reason Job was so loyal to God was because God had placed a hedge of protection around him and everything He had given Job. And though God indeed did allow Satan to try Job, He also set exact parameters as to what Satan could and could not touch concerning him. “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger” –Job 1:9-12.

Let the reader have ears to hear; you have this same divine protection around you and everything God has granted you—if you are His child. As it was with Job, so it is with you.

God may well allow, even suggest Satan sift you. Yet know this: when God allows this, and if you walk with God long enough, He eventually will allow it—it will be for His glory and your good; just as it was for Jobs. Trust is built in the fires of adversity—so is dependence. Pride is removed in those same fires. Our wills are given knees there. We’re made ready and able to bend to God’s will, rather than stubbornly clinging to our own. Remember, we serve a loving Father. And that fundamental fact, His immutable character, is not determined by our flighty feelings—nor by what He may allow to happen in, or be taken from, our lives.

God is static in His eternal love for His children. “For the LORD disciplines the one He loves, as does a father the son in whom he delights “–Proverbs 3:12.

Psalm 94:12 calls blessed the one who the Lord allows to be tried. Listen: “Blessed is the man You discipline, O LORD, and teach from Your law…”

And so it was the Lord who permitted Satan to take the lives of all of Job’s children. All his livestock, his camels, and every other animal he had as well. His every servant save the three that survived to tell of the sudden calamity that had befallen all the rest! Talk about a fiery trial! Yet after all of this sudden and tremendous loss, listen to Job’s response to this testing. Pay attention to the level of faith Job displayed in his God. “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. –Job 1:20-22.

May this be our heart, my heart, in the day God might allow some fiery trial to visit our lives.

Friends, I’ve shared all of this to remind you that Satan has no power other than what is given him by the Only All-Powerful One—the Everlasting God! More, to remind you, child of God, that His Living, Breathing Spirit is alive in you and is exponentially greater in power than the power on short term loan to Satan from God. “For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children” –Romans 8:16.

Yours is a timeless power: his, only temporary.

Satan is a created being whose limited power exists in this world because it is useful in God’s overall plan for His creation. I’m reminding you also that Satan is a liar and the father of lies! Tirelessly chasing you down, pointing ever back towards who you once were, back towards whatever pit God pulled you out of, whatever foul hotbed of immorality from which God has cleaned you. All this, Satan’s wily tactics—smoke and mirrors, friends.

And yet, make no mistake; he is a skilled and crafty illusionist adept in his fangless attempts of convincing you that he is far more powerful, further reaching, more knowing, and able than he genuinely is—all that he might trip you up and take you out! And so dear believer, you must re-mind yourself than of your God-given authority! Become adept at wielding your sword—God’s Word. Becoming a quick draw of the phrase “it is written.” No more living on the defense. You have the power of God within you to tear down the works of the enemy through the power of Jesus’ Blood. You are a new creation—born again from above. Never forget that what is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Jesus’ Words, not mine. “Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life” –John 3:6.

In the end, friends, all ended well for Job. Just as it did for our brother, the Apostle Peter, when Satan had finished sifting him. Listen: “Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. After this Job lived one hundred and forty years and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So Job died, old and full of days” –Job 42:12-16.

God will always have the final Word in the life of every believer—over every created thing. And, just as God has the power to use Satan to sift us that it might result in some new level of righteousness within us, God, in that same power over Satan, prohibits that ever-prowling lion from just randomly attaching His elect. “In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. If anyone stirs up strife, it is not from me; whoever stirs up strife with you shall fall because of you” –Isaiah 54:14-15.

New friend, if you are here today for the first time or maybe it’s been a while since your last visit, but you’ve yet to ask this God who has the final Word over each man’s life into your heart as your Lord. I pray that you’ll ask Him in right now. Don’t allow Satan, that great illusionist, another day to rob you of all that God wants to so richly bless you with; starting with the greatest of His blessings, a relationship with Him. He’s knocking now; please answer. “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” –Revelation 3:20.

Cabin Pressure

January 30, 2021 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“…There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land” Hosea 4:1.

When cabin pressure within a plane’s cabin drops, passengers will need air masks to receive sufficient oxygen. These air masks prevent hypoxia—a condition caused when the body lacks enough oxygen to maintain normal physiological function. When a plane loses cabin pressure, the temperature inside the plane drops, and passengers feel great discomfort in their ears and eyes, but the main health risk is low oxygen. —AeroSavvy.com

Our twenty-one-day fast ended just six short days ago now. It was an amazing, refreshing, illuminating, and personally edifying time for me and many in the Body. Thank you, Abba, for doing what only you can through the power of your Holy Spirit when your children seek you with a sincere and repentant heart.

Shortly after our corporate fast began, I saw in the spirit oxygen masks hanging down in an airplane cabin while doing my morning devotion. I then heard the Words in my spirit, “change in cabin pressure.” And the Holy Spirit began to minister to me. I do not feel released to share all that was given to me now, but I am confident in sharing the following. Before I do, I feel lead to preface what I am about to share by plainly stating that I am not a prophet. I do not profess to walk in the anointing of that sacred office. That said, as with many of my fellow believers in Christ, I have prayed that I should both love as I ought and seek the gift of prophecy, just as the Apostle Paul instructs us to in 1Corinthians 14:1. “Let love be your highest goal! But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives—especially the ability to prophesy.” Yet, even while praying in this vein, I understand that the pure prophetic voice is a gift from God. One He alone freely bestows on those He chooses that they might walk in it to warn, encourage, or to declare His judgment or intentions, to share some revelation with an individual or group that only God, in His Sovereignty, could know. Prophecy is not something one can gain by study or force, by human ingenuity, lest it is false prophecy. God forbid! I encourage every believer, new or seasoned, never to follow, to swallow whole the words of any man, but in all things, all things, use wisdom. Take what is said, read, spoken over you, and lay it aside your final authority, God’s Word. If what you’ve heard or read, what has been told to you, spoken over you, does not align with His Word, I encourage you to spit it out quickly, lest, left unchecked, it poisons you. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” –1 John 4:1.

Many false prophetic voices, coupled with a lack of discernment within the Body, have caused God’s people to go astray in recent months. We will each give an account to God for what we have asserted comes from His mouth.

My position on the Prophetic clearly stated then, let’s continue.

You may be thinking, okay, got it. I agree with all that. But what does a Word from God and an airplane’s cabin pressure have to do with each other? My hope is by the time I share what I have been given, I’ll have answered that as clearly as I am able. As most know, each seat on an airplane has an overhead panel. On that panel, you find your air vent, call button, light switch, etc. What is not so obvious is the oxygen mask tucked discreetly away within it. I’m sure those who’ve flown have watched or half-watched as a flight attendant walked the passengers through the safety procedures? Step by step, they explained what to do in the event of an emergency or sudden change in cabin pressure. How, when the mask dropped down, place it over your face, securing it tightly by pulling on the attached elasticized band, putting your oxygen mask on first before helping a child or anyone else in need. And though you may not see air moving within its airbag, oxygen is indeed flowing.

And herein lies the connection between a change in cabin pressure and the Word God gave me:

The Holy Spirit made it clear that the days in which we live, these “perilous times,” are about to ramp up quickly, becoming increasingly darker ever so quickly now. This quickening, the shift has already occurred. With it, the volume of the clanging, clamoring voices of the world—those of the false prophets too. Their voices will increase both in number and intensity. And those believers who are not firmly rooted in the Word of God, now more than ever was the sense I had, will be easily deceived. Led astray, they will wander from the Truth because they are not rooted in it. I heard the Holy Spirit say that the cabin pressure has already changed—hence the masks hanging in mid-air.

As it is now and ever shall be, until the Lord’s return, expressly in these last hours of human history, we need to know God’s Word for ourselves more than ever before! It’s dark out there, friends, and it’s getting increasingly darker. We need God’s Word, our Word—for our very existence; as surely and desperately as we would need oxygen to breathe if the pressure in the cabin of a plane changed suddenly, lest we perish. Without God’s Living Word, we are starved of wisdom, direction, and knowledge. Adrift, direction-less. Air-less.“But if they do not listen, they perish by the sword and die without knowledge” –Job 36:12. Without it, believers, all humanity in truth, are starved of knowing how God has chosen for His children to conduct and walk out their lives. His Word, the very guardrails that keep us safe and our feet on that narrow, straight path; the staunchest of believers susceptible to stray from, falling prey to the wiles of the enemy without the guidance and affirmations God’s Word affords us all. “Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” –Psalm 119:33;105. Knowing this then, we must first take a firm hold of His Word for ourselves—applying it daily, liberally, to every facet of our lives, our thoughts. Hungrily breathing it in if you will, guaranteeing it is the standard by which our desires and ministries are measured. Doing this as instinctively, deliberately, and with the same innate urgency to live, we’d display in thirstily reaching-out for said oxygen-mask if it suddenly dropped before us mid-flight!

Assuredly friends, God’s Word is that essential for Godly living. Not only for our day-to-day well-being, equally our eternal destination. Because believe it or not, we each have one. Reading and studying God’s Word is an intentional act. We each must decide, choose to cling to it.

These are perilous times, my brothers and sisters, new friends. And perilous isn’t an everyday word. It’s not one we come across much in our daily lives except perhaps when we encounter it in our Bibles. Webster’s 1828 edition, my go-to dictionary, defines perilous this way: dangerous, hazardous, full of risk, and more. And God’s Word says this concerning perilous times: “But know this, that 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. And from such people turn away!” –2 Timothy 3:1-5. One need only look back to the recent scourge that stained our country, the violent storming of our nation’s Capital, and the staggering global death toll resulting from COVID-19. Adding to these, those that seek not to stifle, rather rid our country of anything or anyone that stands for or proclaims our God! And this list could go on and on. I say this not to instigate nor inflame, instead to cast Light on the Truth.

Friends, I trust the Holy Spirit has led me to share this Word with you that it might lead you, lead us, to repent of any spiritual laziness or complacency we’ve allowed to creep into our relationship with our Lord. To come before Him once again in sincere repentance, seeking His forgiveness and His face. Asking Him to remove any debris we’ve allowed to build-up within us, consciously or unconsciously. Those things that block the flow of His spirit within us, that He might more effectively minister to us personally, and outwardly, that His Spirit might flow more freely from us, reaching those He’s predestined us to reach. Things like too much T.V time and not enough Bible time. Making the time necessary to do the things we choose to do, want to do, all the while willingly sacrificing our time with God to do them. God recently pointed to just such areas in my life and said, “will you offer these to me?” “Will you put these on the altar?” By His grace and in His strength, out of a deep sense of conviction and love, I said, “yes, Lord!” So, I am not condemning you, friend; rather, I share God’s correction with you in my own life to spur you on, encouraging you to reach and stretch and grab with both hands all that God has for you—wants to get to others through you!

And I encourage you to do the same. Time is short, and the harvest is great!

We serve a faithful God, friends. One who chastens His children only to make us pure as gold—to refine and strengthen us for what is yet ahead of us. But take heart, for with His chastening comes His promise: “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” –Revelation 3:10.

And new friend, if you have not yet sincerely asked Jesus into your heart, inviting Him to come and take up residence within you, to lead and guide, to restore and make your life new, washing you clean of a past you may be less than proud of perhaps, then come to Him, now. It may be the very reason He’s led you here! And if I’m speaking to you, my prodigal brother or sister, return to your Father now. He’s waiting, open-armed, to receive you back to Himself.

His Star & His Ambassadors…

December 19, 2020 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” –2 Corinthians 6:1-2.

Paul is referencing the Prophet Isaiah here. More accurately, Isaiah is sharing with us what God has shared with Him directly concerning a future time and Ruler that will be born to His people, to Israel. Isaiah 49:8 is a love note from God, to us. It’s God pointing us towards the coming of His Son, Jesus, towards salvation and grace. Some say God is talking through Jesus, to Isaiah, pointing Him towards His acceptable time, His season of good-will, toward His virgin birth that will usher in God’s New Covenant. One that will be sealed by the Spotless Blood of this same One written about but yet to be born. “Thus said the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you: and I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;” –Isaiah 49:8.

This Ruler and time would first be announced to the lowly, to a virgin village girl who would soon be overshadowed by His Holy Spirit. Followed then, by those lowly shepherds guarding the Temple flock the very night that same girl gives birth to God’s Son, Jesus. Had there never been a cradle, there would never have been The Cross. Jesus was born in a lowly stable in Bethlehem to one day die in our place. But before that, before He dies, He will grow up and challenge the status quo. He will touch and change and revolutionize our understanding of what it means to love God absolutely—and our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus was born, in part, to be our errorless guide, our unswerving Teacher—flawlessly demonstrating what it means to be a genuine co-laborer with the Father. To be the only man born of a woman worthy of taking upon Himself the sins of the whole world. This Godman. That tiny Babe wrapped in swaddling milk rags man’s only way back into right relationship with the Father. An unorthodox telling of the Christmas story for sure, yet True, nonetheless.

Long before the angel appeared to Mary, God had conferred upon man the unfathomable privilege of co-laboring with Him—of being His emissary. “And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and He brought them to the man to see what he would name each one. And whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name” –Genesis 2:19. Even before God’s Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary or that moment, a specific one of His stars pierced the clear night sky while certain shepherds tended their flocks or wise men in a distant land poured over their charts and maps in search of Him. God had chosen us, you and me, Paul, Isaiah, and Mary and Joseph, each to be His. The recipients of His magnificent gift of salvation, of His utterly amazing grace. Paul is admonishing the Church in Corinth never to forget this. We would be wise to take heed as well! To not receive God’s grace in vain. Be it our undeserved saving grace or the daily graces afforded us moment-by-moment that enable us to “live and move and have our being.” Instead, Paul is encouraging us all to follow his example of wringing out the very last drop of this grace afforded him, afforded us daily, in service to His God. He is also reminding us that we are, after all, God’s ambassadors here on earth. Our loyal service the King’s rightful due then. Those shepherds tending their prized Temple sheep, sheep having been set aside solely to be sacrificed for Israel, for its atonement, did precisely that. They lavishly spent every cent of the grace afforded them in service to their newly born Messiah.

“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah: for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel’” –Matthew 2: 6.

Scripture tells us that no sooner than this preternatural star-emblazoned their otherwise ordinary night sky, an angel appears to them and, “the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them,” informing them that their long-awaited Messiah had just been born. Scripture goes on to tell us that they were terrified! Yet, despite their fear—their awe-struck-ness, they were off to find this Holy Babe. And, once they had seen Him, Scripture tells us they told everyone they came across about Him—about the extra-ordinary events of this very holy night. “And those who heard were astonished.” Grace had been afforded these shepherds. And they spent it all in service to the Babe they found lying in a manger. These were wise servants, indeed. We would do well to model our faith-walk after theirs. “But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” –Luke 2:10-12.

It is said that on the evening of December 21, 2020, centuries since the last time what is being hailed as the “Christmas Star,” in 1226, to be precise, the observable conjuncture of the planets Jupiter and Saturn will, some say, light up the night sky. Whether this same conjuncture of planets or a similar one is what the shepherds saw, I’m not qualified to comment on. Yet this I am confident in saying: whatever this celestial event may be, whatever it may end up being labeled as, one thing is sure, this celestial event is no mere coincidence. Those like myself, patiently waiting for our Redeemer to return, have our eyes locked on the horizon, always looking up. We are eagerly awaiting the return of the One born in that manger some 2000 plus years ago. And, yet, while we look and while we wait—we work. Just as Paul instructs us, more, like Jesus commanded us. And we share, too.

We tell of His coming and of the wonders of knowing Him—of serving Him. We speak of His great Love. He is Love personified, after all. We tell of His amazing grace and mercy, of His sweetness, His tenderness. We speak of His correction and reshaping. His great love for us will not allow us to remain wherever He may have found us. We share that He will soon return and how no one can see Him—go with Him unless they are His unless they have a relationship with Him. Like those shepherds before us, those first evangelists, as my dear friend Sam Cordeiro just referred to them in His most recent sermon, we speak as they did, of what we know—have tasted for ourselves. This Christmas season ought to be about more than presents and lights and spending. It ought to be about receiving His great love for you, into your heart, new or newly. Receiving this One, we see asleep in the manger, Christ the Lord. The Savior of mankind. God’s New Covenant.

If you know Him, brothers, and sisters, then please, don’t squander the grace He’s afforded you. And friend, if you have yet to meet Mary’s Son, our Jesus, I encourage you, no, I plead with you to ask Him to show Himself to you this day. I would so look forward to meeting you one day and hearing our Father tell you, “well done, good and faithful servant!“ “Then He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in My Father’s kingdom” –Matthew 26:27-28.

Awe and Wonder…

December 5, 2020 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” –Luke 2:9-11.

I’ve been going for a lot of long nature walks lately. Not even because I’m super reflective, not because I have an affinity for nature, no. It’s much simpler than that, it’s because I have a dog. Yes, you read that right; my dog is the reason I go for long nature walks. Bear with me here as I tell you a bit about my fur baby. I have a golden retriever named Daisy, and boy is she energetic! Simple neighborhood walks don’t do it for her any longer, not like they did when she was a pup. She requires the cool of the earth beneath her paws now, she wants the scent of crisp autumn leaves, actually, more like whatever’s lurking beneath them. She wants the sight of the forest with its beams of sunlight and the sound of squirrels rustling about, birds chirping, up in the trees somewhere, she wants to lick the dew off of the fallen foliage. To say she loves the woods is an understatement—she is elated when she’s in them! When I say the words, “wanna go for a walk?” she comes to life. She bolts towards the door, ready to run, head-on into a new adventure. Over the past couple of months, as Daisy and I have trekked various New England trails, my dog has taught me to love creation. It’s because of her that I’ve been reminded nature was created for me to enjoy as well. Daisy stops and smells the flowers. She investigates every twig that appears suspicious. She picks up on any trace of any other creature who may have gone before her. She is so present in every moment. Locked in discovery mode, she traces every sight and scent—familiarizing herself for next time. Her desire for discovery got me thinking: “what if we lived in wide-eyed wonder as Daisy does? Awestruck by all the beauty that surrounds us? What if the earth, formed by the hands of our Maker and designed for us to thrive in, elicited the same awe-struck response in us as it does in Daisy?

Throughout Scripture, God is referred to as an AWEsome God. I think that says something about the lens through which He wants us to view Him…

By definition, awe is an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc. It is produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like. Knowing the Creator of the universe invokes just such an awe inside of us. It awakens some deep knowing that fulfills our every need for belonging. I mean, it was the voice of God, after all, who spoke the stars into existence and gave the earth its form; He who, with just one Word, spoke light into existence. And it was this same God who allocated a place in the ecosystem for every living being. Everything that has breath sends that same breath right back to Him, in praise. His hands the very ones that formed humankind, the crown jewel of His creations. And it was His breath blown into the lungs of that first man that gave him life—us too. Yes. From the very beginning of time, God’s watchful eye has been on us. If I stopped right here, what I just said should be enough to ignite a great big spark of awe in you. But alas! There’s more…

The bond between God and man was broken by Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden—their sin separating them from Him. But God set out to—had a plan to, restore what they had broken! Considering the Christmas season that is upon us, I thought it appropriate to look at the response of mankind to the arrival of God in the flesh, in the person of His Son, Jesus. In Luke 2, we find the story of Jesus’ birth. But before I get there, I need to remind us- Jesus chose to come into this world in the most unlikely way, and to the most unlikely of people. Ordinary people like me and you. Jesus did not come with a heavenly army, nor to a kingdom as we know it. He came through Mary, a humble servant. And He chose to be born in a simple stable, in a very unlikely town. In Luke 2 we learn that the very first people to be told of His birth were lowly shepherds. What got me when I read Luke 2 was the shepherd’s response. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. So, they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger” –Luke 2:9-11; 16. They were terrified—a response to being awed. Yet despite this, after they were reassured by the angel, they were moved to action. That overwhelming awe didn’t paralyze them. It moved them. First, to go and see, then, secondly, to go and tell!

When you have a genuine encounter with the Living God, something magnificent happens within you. That encounter causes you to act because of what you’ve just experienced for yourself! Understand, this kind of supernatural reaction doesn’t just impact you, the one who has the initial experience, it has an eternal chain-link effect that connects you somehow to countless others. Luke 2 goes on to tell us that, “all who heard it were amazed by what the shepherds said to them” –Luke 2:18. All who heard. Those shepherds couldn’t keep quiet about their awesome experience with the angel of the Lord. They told anyone who would listen to them all about Jesus, His star, and His birth—about their divine encounter with Him. They shared all that the angel had spoken to them and everything they had witnessed with their own two eyes. They could have chosen to write the angel off as some dream-like apparition, yet they chose instead to unapologetically stand by what they knew to be true.

I can call to mind some experiences I’ve had where I may have dulled down the story to make it seem a bit more “normal”. But the truth is, the supernatural things of God are anything but normal. There’s a reason they’re called “super-natural”. They defy earthly definition. And when we share these supernatural things God has done in our life with others, it causes amazement to well up in them.

Let’s look, for a moment, at the wise men. Fun fact: The Bible doesn’t say how many wise men there actually were. We know from Scripture that there were three gifts, but there very well could have been a caravan of people traveling to behold the Savior of the world! Regardless, these wise men, or “Magi” as they’re referred to in Matthew 2, were highly esteemed and well-educated men. Yet these same men came and bowed humbly before a baby they believed to be the Messiah. They saw a star in the heavens, a sign, and they followed it. They did not worship this sign mind you, they simply allowed it to lead them to their Creator. With this in mind: I pray we are never too old or too prideful to recognize and respond to the move of God—no matter how undignified doing so may seem. Like the Magi who knelt before a baby, I pray we have the humility to adore Him in every situation we may find ourselves in. Secondly, I pray we don’t look at signs as gods, rather that we allow them to lead us to the One True God—the source of all wisdom and life.

From the moment He was born, Jesus evoked an unadulterated passion from His own—from all those who recognized Him as their Messiah. I have the feeling that all the emotion tucked into the Christmas story may have been placed there to help us to return to a childlike state of simple joy and admiration for the Babe in the manger.

As Jesus grew into His ministry, He healed many and spoke with such wisdom it shocked those who heard Him speak. The Samaritan woman, the lepers, the blind men, the lame, each received His gift of healing and love. Then, telling everyone they knew what they had experienced, most of them responded just as the shepherds did—in wonder and amazement. Part of the beauty of this story is that we get see Jesus amaze people all around the world, still. Whether it be restoring hope to the hopeless, bringing healing to the afflicted and broken, or bestowing a sense of belonging to someone who is lost. Jesus is still working today—right here, right now. He still displays signs and wonders around us every day. We just need to open our eyes, our hearts, to both see and to receive them.

If my dog can live in the moment, soaking in the awe and wonder of God’s endless goodness, His abundant provision, and splendor, I’m thinking we ought to be able to as well. Wouldn’t you agree? This Christmas season, my prayer for you is that you might find the “extra” in ordinary things. Most of all, I pray that you discover the hope found only in Jesus Christ. I pray His joy fills you beyond measure! I pray you begin to live in a state of wonder and awe, flat out amazed by all that God has done, is doing, and is yet to do!

And if you’ve never asked this God of awe and wonder into your heart—what better time than now! Give your life to Jesus today let it be your gift to Him in return for all that He has given you, starting with your very breath. He has allowed all this time to pass just so that you’d read this, and then ask Him into your heart as Lord. “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” –2 Peter 3:8-9.

Smoke Inhalation. 1 Timothy 4:1

May 16, 2020 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

**“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.”**

In other words, in these last days, some who call themselves Christians will be taken out by their having breathed in the toxic fumes given off by those things we, as believers, were never designed to take in. The noxious effects of which, by their very nature, can cause our demise. Religious spirits—deceiving spirits, are famous for this. Laying claim to having the only form of protection that can truly save them—the Holy Spirit alive within them—their being overcome proof positive nevertheless, He never resided within them.

Statistics tell us that, some 50–80% of fire deaths are the result of smoke inhalation injuries, including burns to the respiratory system. Smoke inhalation kills in just a few minutes and also quickly obscures vision, creating disorientation that can prevent a safe escape. I read this excerpt recently, regarding 1 Timothy 1:4 that said: There is a set-up in the activity of seducing spirits and doctrines of demons on the earth that is causing a society-wide shift from God’s Truth—to deception. Said Scripturally: “And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world” –1 John 4:3.

Maybe these held familial beliefs ingrained in them since childhood? Maybe they had, in some superficial way, made those beliefs their own? They attended church, read the Bible, did the stuff, went to the Bible study, and the conferences—until they did not. Until that one day when, perhaps unawares, some other word caught their attention, seeped into them, and they began breathing in that noxious thing. In these last days, many will die of smoke inhalation. Seduced into removing the one thing from their lives that is certain to save them, the shield of God’s Truth. Hold fast beloved! Do not be deceived, if that were possible, into removing the only thing that can save you! And pray as never before! For those who are deceived, blind, are being led astray! Deceiving spirits are here in force! This is what Paul is telling us here. What the Holy Spirit stressed to him—is stressing to us, too concerning the times in which we live…

Fire! Fire! Noxious fumes have filled the air! Those that may have stood firm in the faith at one point, drifting. Moving away from what they once held dear, knew to be certain and True. Scripture does not make clear why they drifted, only that they did. Is it possible they were never truly anchored to His Truth at all? Others will reject God’s Truth entirely—blatantly. Claiming perhaps that their truth is the truth instead—this doctrine of demons. The tickling of the ears that have come to wage war with God’s children in these last of the last days. This one final, brazen, frontal assault on God, and on His Church. Not a popular message for sure, this, but I have to share it, nonetheless…

Expose the lie that claims his truth, or her truth, that their truth is the truth— and not God’s Word! I must share with those who say, “Who is this God to tell me what I am or how I should feel, think, love, or should marry?” To this, I say I love you, therefore I must share His Truth with you. I am duty-bound. Love Himself commanded me to. Thousands before me have stood facing this very moment. Shall I seek popularity and remain silent, or risk offense and possibly be used as the hand that pulls one from the fire? I have never been the popular kid, so for me, that decision was easy. I will risk the fire. I must. I have been called to. And as I said, I love you. Not with a feel-good love that prevents me from sharing the Truth, no. Rather with the love of Christ. A love that wants to share both Him and eternity with you. “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people” –2 Timothy 3:1-5. Notice friends, that among this long list, Paul says not one thing ever about hating anyone. He does not say name call or demean those we do not see eye-to-eye with. He does say clearly, however, have nothing to do with such people. Meaning, not taking on what they are doing. Rather share what you know to be right and true and good, instead. We are not God. We cannot save anyone. We are called to love everyone, to share the Word of God, and pray for everyone beloved. Pray that their eyes be genuinely opened to His saving Truth…

The shield of the Holy Spirit that each Blood bought believer possesses must be worn daily, moment by moment, in all situations as our protection. Whether we see evidence of a fire—or not. He must be the filter through which all of our decisions pass—our conversations too. If not, we run the great risk of being overtaken by smoke. Made weak or sick by the noxious fumes given off by those whose only motive is to kill, steal, and destroy—some intentionally, others having been overtaken and used. They may have been a best friend, a family member, a mentor—it does not matter. Hard to hear I know. But a necessary lesson. What did we think Scripture meant by remaining alert? Being awake? Vigilant or watchful? These were not casual suggests—they are life-saving tools we must implement as we navigate our way around the blaze that is these last days. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” –Ephesians 6:12.

We may not instantly recognize the deceiving spirit that came walking into our living room because it cleverly hid behind the smiling eyes of our son or daughter, a friend, or that guest in the church. We have been tricked, however briefly, into thinking that we are seeing the one we know, perhaps love, and have trusted, when all the while it is an antichrist standing before us. Some demon from hell sent to rip off our mask and take us out!

That one we see before us having been used by, duped into doing the dirty work of the god of this world—or one of his insidious minions. Deceiving spirits who momentarily blind us. Dis-abling us from seeing their true identity by wafting in attached to, somehow, that one we know—or wanted to at least. In these instances, the enemy does not come at us like the roaring lion Peter warns about in 1 Peter 5:8, though his end game remains the same, his tactic changes. There is no warning, no roar, the hair on the back of our neck does not stand up when that familiar one stands before us; our belly is relaxed, calm. Now, instead, with those familiar to us, too often he will come cleverly disguised like the wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing. That one spoken of Matthew 7:15. Though this particular scripture refers to false prophets, the same principle applies. What is standing right in front of us is not who it is professing to be. “Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them” –Romans 16:17.

“A victim of smoke inhalation may be rendered unconscious very quickly, leading to rapid death.”

As it is in the natural, so too in the spirit-man. Keep your shield on beloved. Noxious fumes are swirling all about you. Scripture says it this way: “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee” –Proverbs 23:7.

Beloved, hold fast to God, and the Truth which lives within you. Share it freely and without fear. God is your rear-guard. Nothing shall befall you that has not first passed through His hand. And if He allows it to touch you, trust it is for your edification—a needed lesson, a stretching for some future time. “I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry”—2 Timothy 4:1-5.

And friend, if you’re here today for the first time and something in you is saying, “I want to know more about this God, I want to be saved from the noxious fumes of this world.” Maybe even those swirling around you right now? Then put down that joint, throw away your pipe finally, and ask this same Jesus to come into your heart right now. If you read this far then you have read about the odds of surviving smoke inhalation. Jesus wants to give you the only thing that will save you from this world—His Holy Spirit living in you. A relationship with Him. Won’t you ask Him to show Himself real to you?

Surrounded. 2 Kings 6:17

March 14, 2020 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“And Elisha prayed and said, Jehovah, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. And Jehovah opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw; and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”

I was like this servant. Truth be told, there are moments, both in my life and ministry, when I still am. Blind that is. Not God. There’s a news flash! Not all-knowing or seeing. Rather I’m frail and human and so very much in need of the One who is God. Who does see all, know all; because I can sometimes forget that there is more than one type of sight—ways of seeing a person, place, or situation. Of starring into the face of what is so clearly hidden in plain sight; yet seeing only the natural enemy army before me. An army that mirrors back to me my weaknesses and failures and inadequacy. Blind in my desire to so want to serve God and his people, those He has placed over me with excellence, I sometimes move foolishly, carelessly, in my flesh, in my own strength, instead of waiting for the Lord to release me—to open my eyes to what is truly in front of me. What it is He’ll have me see. By His grace, He has covered my rookie mistakes and any potential crisis was averted. My natural sight having blinded me from seeing what is truly surrounding me, at all times; the angels my Father has given charge over me. Their aid, and His strength…

“The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them” –Psalm 34:7.

Am I alone in my testimony? The only one who has, perhaps in their walk or ministry, missed the mark?

Not seeing what was standing right in front of them? Spiritually speaking that is. Or not recognized what was truly available to them, or. more, what was coming at them, their leadership, or the Body, because they looked at a situation, or failed to see a thing because they were, I was, looking at it, at that person, with natural eyes only? I know of at least one other who was as blind as I have been. Dare I say perhaps as blind as you’ve been too? One whose spiritual eyes failed him as well. Elisha’s new servant. My apologies. I can’t introduce you. I can’t share his name with you because the scriptures don’t tell me his name, only that he is Elisha’s assistant.

If we’re not paying attention though, we’ll mistake him for Gehazi, Elisha’s first assistant. We first hear of Gehazi in 2 Kings 4:12. However, he leaves Elisha’s service covered in leprosy and shame in 2 Kings 5:27. So this one, this unnamed servant who sees only the army of the Arameans, this natural enemy army surrounding him and his master, is then obviously new. Perhaps he’s Gehazi’s replacement? Either way, what’s obvious is, replacement or not, he’s yet to have caught the gift of seeing beyond the natural realm and into the spiritual, as Elisha, his mentor has. “None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom” –2 Kings 6:12.

So what is this ‘opening of his eyes’ that Elisha prayed for? This seeing? Surely Elisha’s servant wasn’t blind. Had he been blind, he wouldn’t have been able to see the Aramean’s surrounding them at Dothan…

Elisha had prayed for his spiritual sight to be activated. For the eyes of his understanding to be open, that he might truly see. Elisha prayed for his ability to see beyond his seeing in the natural. A gift from God alone. I’ve heard it described this way: Spiritual things are not perceived by the natural man with his natural sight. But we compare revelation or spiritual perception to the act of seeing because of their similarities and because the results of the two are the same, namely a coming into the experience of knowing something beyond the shadow of a doubt. The natural man is in darkness regarding spiritual things, that is he can’t perceive them unaided. Without light, we cannot directly perceive God or His kingdom though we have the testimony of creation and the inward testimony of our conscience. When the Holy Spirit comes, however, bearing His influence on the soul of man it has the same effect as light has upon the natural eyes of man. His influence causes man to perceive the things of the spirit. Like light, the greater the influence the greater the level of perception. The result of a man receiving the light of the Spirit is perception and he becomes absolutely convinced of the truth of the object he saw as if he had seen it with his natural eyes. (Emphasis my own)

This ability to see into the spirit realm is indispensable for those God has called to minister to His people.

To be able to see what is coming that we might cover our leaders and those God has placed under our care. We cannot operate in our appointed offices without it. Especially those prophets and seers, intercessors, and priests whom God has called to the frontline of this ongoing battle between Himself and His enemy and ours, Satan, that great deceiver. We must be able to see, to discern, the will of God for His people and for our own lives and ministry. How else will we be able to sound the alarm? Warn others of what is coming against them? Encourage them to repent and seek God, unless we first know a thing for ourselves. See it coming for ourselves if you will. Perhaps Elisha’s servant was so newly appointed to the man of God, this gifted prophet who himself had received a double-portion anointing from his mentor, the prophet Elijah, that Elisha had yet had the opportunity to have laid hands on the young man and pray God stir-up the gift that was just waiting to be called out from within him? I ask this based upon the Truth that God does not call anyone into any office, into His service, unless He alone has also blessed and provided us with everything we will ever need, not only to walk out our salvation in this world but to fulfill that call or office for which He has called us. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” –Ephesians 2:10. Or, perhaps, Elisha was not slack at all but rather waiting on God’s appointed time. Waiting for that moment God alone had foreordained for Elisha’s new servant to be introduced to seeing beyond the natural and into the spiritual realm…

The scriptures are replete with just such instances of this same intense first experience with seeing into, and properly interpreting, the spirit world. Daniel no doubt understood the “suddenly” of just such a moment. The Apostle John too. Ezekiel and Samuel as well, just to mention a few. Daniel 7; Revelation 1:1-2; Ezekiel 1; Samuel 3.

Here’s the thing beloved: If you have been appointed to some office, some position within the Body of Christ, know, with all certainty that you are there because of God; whatever His reason for allowing you to be there. He alone places us in positions of leadership or authority. Know too, that since He has placed you there, you carry within you everything you’ll ever need to complete the task you were appointed to fulfill. That said, understand this as well: You will have to learn partner with the Holy Spirit and those He has placed in positions of authority and leadership over you to develop, draw out, hone, fine-tune, what God has already deposited in your belly. Also, to remain humble and teachable enough, as Elisha’s new servant did, to receive what we need, be it prayer or guidance or correction from those God has placed over you—to speak into you, to help train you and cover you when you inevitably get it all wrong on occasion—just as he did. As I have. As you will too. “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” –Hebrews 12:11.

But fear not! Take heart, beloved! Don’t allow your pride to disqualify you from your assignment by thinking, calling into question your divine calling…

Just because you got it wrong this time, does not mean God didn’t appoint you or has somehow failed you. Humble yourself in the recognition that these are growing pains. You’ll get it wrong many times in your walk with Lord. I know I have! The shame is not in getting it wrong. The shame comes, the sin slithers in, when you allow pride to rob your anointing. Admit your blindness before God and men and the Lord will, in His divine timing, send one to pray that your eyes be opened, too. “Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you. Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” –1 Peter 5: 5-7.

Friend, if you are here today and haven’t familiar with the things this teaching contains, perhaps God has called you here today that you might ask Him to come into your life, as Lord and Savior, so that He might teach you. Opening your eyes to the Truth of His Son, Jesus, and all that He has for you to see and learn from Him? Won’t you ask Him to show Himself real to you now? He’s been waiting for your invitation. Listen to His Words, not mine: “Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart” –Jeremiah 29:12-13.

All along… Psalm 145:9

October 5, 2019 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

” **The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.**”

Recently, while listening to Dante Bowe sing, The Goodness of God, the Holy Spirit got hold of me; opening the eyes of my understanding, He stretched me. Drawing me in, I was given a peek, just some small glimpse, of what God’s goodness meant—has looked like, in my life. I was wrecked and repenting by the time He was finished showing me, yet I was left hungry for so much more. I had tasted, and it was good! I knew this was no one-time revelation, no amuse-bouche’. Rather, it is a fine dining experience. A multi-course meal whose unique, rich, layered, subtle textures and flavors will have me revisiting this experience of God’s Goodness, over and over and over again…

The Holy Spirit took me back to specific days and seasons in my life; revisiting very specific sins. I was able to see glimpses of myself in the thick of it—covered in my filth, yet seemingly not carrying. Selfish. Oblivious to anything other than what I wanted or needed to make me happy or feel satisfied, at that moment. I saw the bars and the many men and the lies and the sex. The sneaking around. The adultery. The hurt I’d caused my parents and later, my children, friends, and family. I saw my filth stream before my eyes like some twisted, lust-filled, foul-mouthed, underground movie. I saw myself stealing, hustling, getting high, watching porn. I saw when I was molested as a child. I saw my depression, my wanting to die, my neglect. And then I felt the weight of my wretchedness; instantly.

I understood the Holy Spirit wasn’t condemning me, He’s already forgiven me. Rather, He was allowing me to feel the weight of that disgusting filthiness once again that I might be stretched, opened up in some new way, to drink in this heightened, vivid, understanding of just how good and loving and kind and merciful, how patient and long-suffering this God, my Jesus, is. Not that over-used, over-worked, knee-jerk, ‘God is good’ kind of goodness, rather His pure, life-changing, transformative, loving, goodness. The very goodness that caused Him to hold tight His Cross willingly lay down upon it, then allow those He was offering His very life for, to drive their sin through His Perfect flesh. That kind of Goodness…

A Goodness that is far too big, and deep, and wide, for my puny, finite mind, thoughts, and feelings, to fully take in! God had seen each of my sins. And still, after seeing them all, He came to me, personally. He came in a way like no one in my life had ever come; in the gentlest of ways, as softly as the softest of summer breezes. He was just, there. Suddenly. I can close my eyes and go back to that moment, it’s so alive and vivid still; I can feel His nearness as deeply now, more actually, as I did then. And, from that moment until today, I am His and He is mine.

I’ve experienced the goodness of God that Dante was singing about in my own life, without a doubt. I too have sung of the goodness of God. Read about it in the Scriptures, certainly. I’ve witnessed to folks about His goodness. Posted and shared quotes and pics extolling that goodness on social media sites; sharing it personally with new believers. Yet, I had never stopped long enough to truly dig down into the depth of just how far back His goodness had been active in my life; just how far back it truly reached. In that moment, by the revelation of The Holy Spirit, I saw, more, I felt and understood in a new way, just how far back His goodness reached. It went Ephesians 1:4 back, Jeremiah 1:5 and Psalm 139:13-18 back, to mention just a few examples. It went standing over the void back…

I’ve taken many cursory glances at this reality over the years, mind you. But in truth, never really sat alone with the thought of His goodness and what it meant in my life—all of my life, giving it the time it so richly deserves. I never knew it in my bones, felt the reality of it churning around in the very depths of me until that moment when the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to all of what God had watched me do in my life. All those days and nights and instances I thought I was being so slick. When I thought I was being so careful, so clever. When I felt the darkness of some strange room was all the hiding place I’d ever need; my sins were safe there, hidden.

Friends and brothers and sisters, I’m not here today sharing my dirt with you for any reason other than to be transparent and to encourage that one who may be here now; feeling as filthy dirty as I was then, would be still, had it not been for the Goodness and love and mercy of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I am here today to share with you the wonder and the beauty and the Awesomeness of God. Of exactly what He can and will do in the life of the one He grabs hold of. I say He grabs hold of because I had nothing to do with that. I surely didn’t deserve it. I wasn’t praying for it, honestly. God hadn’t even been a thought that had crossed my mind in any real way—until He did. Until that ‘suddenly’ moment when, in hindsight, I now understand was the Holy Spirit giving me the desire to go to a particular church at a specific time. And I went. I followed that ‘feeling’. And right there, in that Catholic Church, in the midst of the priest’s sermon, The Holy Spirit came for me. And, as I said earlier, He came as softly and gently as the softest of summer breezes. There were no beams of light streaming through the stained-glass windows, no choir of angelic voices singing holy songs, just a deep, the very pit of me deep, and oh so subtle, shift inside. And from that moment, sitting in that Church with my then lover at my side, unashamedly languishing in the pit of my adultery, the Goodness of God has kept one such as me. John 10:27-29…

Friends, I am not here today to point you towards something I’ve read or heard tell of. Something that’s been sung about or shared. I’m not here to regurgitate someone else’s story of how they met this God who offers us—all of us, this goodness we must experience for ourselves. I’m here because I know Him, love Him, have been afforded the privilege of serving Him. I’m here to point us each towards the only one that can and has and will always, until the very last, pour this fresh clean water of His goodness and His love, His unfathomable capacity to forgive us—over us. The One who loves us too much to leave us where we are—whether we’ve known Him for years and years or have just met Him today—or will meet Him soon, I pray. I’m here today to share with you that this Good God has so much more for you and me. He is troubling the water, stirring up something inside of you. Step in and be made whole. Be restored, made clean. Be refreshed.

Brother’s and sister’s and friends let us not settle for the common. For swimming in the shallow end because we can manage that nicely on our own. Cry out to God to rid us of our preconceived notions and ideas of who we believe Him to be and ask Him instead to show Himself to us afresh, new. Let us cry out to God right now in repentance, for mercy, and for more of Him. May He draw us each into an ever deeper and wider, a more pure and True understanding of who He is—and of ourselves, in Him, as He intended us to be and live and share and give and love and serve each other —Psalm 145:5-7.

Friend, if your reading this today and can relate. If you’ve not yet asked this Good God that I’ve spoken of today to be your God, come into your life and change it as surely as He has changed mine—and so many countless others like us; ask Him now. Don’t wait another day, please. “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” Matthew 7:11.

Higher Than Our Own. Isaiah 55:8-9

September 21, 2019 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“The Lord says, “My thoughts are not like yours.
    Your ways are not like mine.
Just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so my ways are higher than your ways,
    and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.”

In preparation for this week’s teaching, I went to sit beside the ocean to get alone with the Lord. I parked the car close to a popular local inlet where the small craft anchor. A particular dingy caught my eye…

Staring at it I thought, “that little guy looks as though it could sink at any moment.” Compared that is, to some of the sturdier-looking, larger boats anchored nearby. Looking away, I continued on in prayer. But once again this little boat caught my eye. This time, however, it appeared to be listing. Signaling the beginning of an inescapable watery demise. “I had a feeling that little boat would eventually go down. It didn’t appear at all seaworthy.” As I continued to watch what I saw instead caused me to literally shout, ‘no way!”’ The waves had caused it to shift directions and I saw it was fully righted! Not only had that little boat not gone under, it was effortlessly bobbing along being piloted by the tides that had it safely hemmed in. What I was certain I had seen had been little more than an optical illusion. My eyes playing tricks on me. A complete misread on my part…

And then God spoke. Impressing on my heart that: I wasn’t to always trust what I saw in front of me rather, to steadfastly rely solely upon what I know to be True of Him. Trusting in His Sovereignty, mercy, grace, and, power. He reminded me to always have my faith securely anchored in Him; my mind and thoughts captive to His will alone. There are many illusions in this world…

Satan is a master of illusion and deception. And, He is busier now than ever knowing his time is at hand. God’s elect must be even more vigilant. Leaving no opening in our armor through which he might gain entrance. “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible” –Mark 13:22.

God had convicted me of the cracks in my own armor; as quickly as I had judged this little boat of being unseaworthy, so too had I judged myself unworthy to serve Him by comparing myself to those I felt were far more gifted—more qualified than myself. I’d allowed temporary feelings of unworthiness to serve God and His people to supersede what I know He alone has called and equip me to do. Serve! Whenever and wherever He leads me. I was instantly humbled by the realization that not only had I been allowing myself to entertain lies, questioning my very election, entertaining my fears, doubts, and insecurities as one entertains friends; allowing them access into places mere acquaintances are not permitted, I had, unawares, projected my feelings of inadequacy onto that little boat! Thus, falsely judging us both as unseaworthy…

That’s when God convicted my heart! Who was I to judge the gifts He’s given me? His grace? Who was I to question His reasoning for choosing me for Himself?

And so, if I don’t make it my business to stay close to Christ daily, standing firm and fixed, minute-by-minute on who He says I am, I will, according to my own estimation, find myself sorely wanting. Unworthy to serve such a Holy God—or His people. Knowing my own sin and shortcomings I will judge myself as a vessel of dishonor, rather than one of gold or silver having been made pure, not by my own works or worth, rather by His. In this Truth, I was allowed a far deeper, more personal revelation of meaning behind Paul’s words: “But to me it is a very small thing to be judged by you, or by man’s day; but neither do I judge my own self”–1 Corinthians 4:3.

Our self-worth, my self-worth friends, should not be grounded in the esteem or opinion nor in the rejection of others—man’s flesh is far too fickle, untrustworthy, and ever-changing to ever take fully to heart. First, it blows this way and then that. One minute calling out Hosanna and with its next breath, crucify Him! Neither should we fully put our trust in self-assessments, least we think either too highly or too lowly of ourselves. Yet if our conscious pricks us, we must be certain to examine it. But it is to God alone that we must look to for every good thing in our lives. Starting with the foundational Truth of who we are and who He is in our lives, ministry, work, and worth. Only His Truth is irrefutable. Our sure standard.

His Word clearly tells us: “All else is sinking sand…” –Matthew 7:24-27.

Now, before I move on, allow me to clarify a point: By no means do I mean to suggest that we should not examine ourselves, our lives, and hearts, our consciences. Quite the contrary, as Christians, we must keep a close eye on the condition of our hearts and thoughts, our words, and actions. Through prayer and the reading of the Scriptures, through our daily communion with the Holy Spirit, we must ask the Lord, day by day, to search out anything in us that is not of Him. And, should our conscience convict us of sin, we must, by His power, rid our lives of its corrupt root; least our hearts become hardened by its unchecked presence. We must repent, quickly.

Our Scripture verse today harkens back to the days of King David who, at the time of this writing has been dead some 250 years. Thus signifying that our Scripture verses are directed not at unbelievers since they are directed at David and Israel, but rather at believers. And, though applicable in Isaiah’s day surely, they are also prophetic; reaching their hand into the pocket of today’s Church, speaking directly to you and me. God’s Truth is eternal and unchanging. Our verses declare, in part, just who God is and who we are in comparison. There is no room in His declaration for neither question nor doubt. God’s Sovereignty is on clear display in these verses. Therefore, as believers living in times fraught with illusions, lies, and false accusation, we must be convinced, resolute in the fact that we are who God says we are and not fall prey to those feelings that swing us this way one moment and that another, tossing us first here, then there…

Beloved, if this has hit your heart if you’ve been judging yourself as I’ve judged myself of late, may I suggest you steal away and spend some quiet time alone with the Lord. Ask Him to reveal afresh the Truth of who you are in Him and to make clear to you once again, your purpose and calling in Him. The field is white my brothers and sisters, we must be steadfastly about our Father’s business throwing off, as our brother Paul instructs us, every weight that hinders us.

And friend, if you find yourself here today saying, I’ve felt like this too! Know this, God has led you here as surely as He led me to that little dingy. If you’ve yet to ask Jesus to come into your life as Lord and Savior, please do it now. He’s led you here and He loves you. But He won’t force Himself on you…

Category: Revelation (Page 4 of 5)

Once It Becomes Personal.

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The Simple Truth.

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Smoke & Mirrors

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Cabin Pressure

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His Star & His Ambassadors…

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Awe and Wonder…

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Smoke Inhalation. 1 Timothy 4:1

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Surrounded. 2 Kings 6:17

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All along… Psalm 145:9

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Higher Than Our Own. Isaiah 55:8-9

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