Waiting on God the LORD’S Visits
July 2021 • Volume XIX Number 11
”But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. “ (2 Corinthians 3:18)
THOUGHTS FOR CONSIDERATION:
ARTICLE REVIEW:
Greetings again my Brethren. Is it not nice to know the LORD will visit us? What a reassuring feeling within us when we can feel the presence of the LORD or in some cases see the actual manifestation of the LORD. Now some people would dispute me (they then would be a disputer of the word of God) and tell me I am crazy, but not so my friend. Okay to be honest I have never seen the manifestation of the LORD, but I often feel His presence which is just as nice. But others I know personally have seen the manifestation of the LORD (the Father or an Angel) and the Lord (Jesus) in a visit. No one is more trustworthy than your mother and wife and in both they have seen the LORD walking in our midst. Two quick condensed stories. There was an ex-soldier (he flew attack helicopters) who lived near our home in Fayetteville, NC named Mike. Well, Mike was a drunk and did drugs. I am not sure why, but he was kicked out of the US Army for these habits. But when he would get high he would come over to our home all in tears and would want to talk with my mother. This went on for months. Well one day my mother was in prayer and she would lay on the couch and look out the open door to the street about 700 yards. One day she was sitting on the couch and she saw Jesus come walking up the street. she quickly got up and went to my father who was sitting in the den watching TV and said, “Hon, Jesus is coming to our house for a visit.” They both ran back to the open door and my mother said, “I see Him coming up the street.” My father looked and saw nothing and said, “I do not see Jesus.” And my mother looked again and ran outside the door and said, “He has passed our home and just entered Mike’s home.” My father said, “okay good” and went back to the den. Well about four or five hours later my parents heard fire trucks and an ambulance coming up the street and they too stopped at Mike’s house. Later in the night my parents found out Mike just died, not sure from what, but according to my mother Jesus came for a visit first. Another visit from the LORD was when David our oldest son was first born and had hyperbilirubinemia or yellows jaundice which is a life threatening medical emergency for a newborn. He had to stay in the hospital for a few extra days under these very bright lights (bili lights) to destroy the red blood cells at the skin level. Well, one night Karen (she has another story where she saw Jesus, the Lord, touch David when he was sick) was up late, upset, crying, and praying while David was in the hospital (I was asleep) and she could sense, just knew someone was walking towards her and she felt someone bend down (she was sitting in chair) and hug her. At that moment she just knew David was going to be fine. She got up from the chair and ran into the bedroom, woke me up out a sound sleep, and told me Jesus just visited her and told her David will be okay. There was no audible voice or physical presence of the LORD, but she could feel this glorious presence as the LORD reassured her all is well. I woke up and asked, “what is going on?” And she told me Jesus just visited and David is going to be okay. And I responded that is nice and went back to sleep, Karen soon followed. Yes just like in the Bible the LORD still visits us today. Now I like that. In the Gospel of Luke we find another time the LORD visited (the Scriptures are full of such examples) His people. I wonder why people say today these are just stories the LORD really does not visit His children? I guess they are disputers of the word of God. In Luke we read, “And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, 68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, 69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; 70As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:” (Luke 1:67-70) What a wonderful story of here in Luke as the Angel (or the LORD) comes and makes a proclamation of the birth of John the Baptist, but the story within the story for Zacharias is the end of the story which started months earlier. Back in verse 17 of Chapter one of Luke we find Zacharias had a hard time dealing with the visit of the LORD. Now to be honest most people if not all people would have a hard time with a visit from the LORD. Our human and logical thinking would only get in the way. Unless we had a spiritual understanding we would write this visit off as undigested bit of food or a bad dream, but not so in God. In verse 17 the Angel Gabriel comes for a visit to talk with Zacharias, “And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. 18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. 20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.” (Luke 1:17-20) Sadly, Zacharias disputes Gabriel and (the LORD) and Gabriel shuts up Zacharias mouth until the birth of his son (and cousin of Jesus) the prophet John the Baptist. Verses 67-70 was what Zacharias said when his mouth was opened again. Now who visits? Is it Jesus, the Lord, yes. Maybe an Angel, the LORD, yes. Or maybe the LORD, God the Father, yes. At any rate it does not matter because when the “LORD” visits man is touched and wonderful things are done for the glory of God.
Next month we will continue looking at the ways we can say the LORD has visited us. Do you see Him draw near? Please know God is near to them who are near to Him. Do you feel His presence? Do you see His hand in your life? He is waiting on us to make our first move. Written by David Stahl
Fear God or Fear Man
When I grew up in West Virginia life was slow, quiet, and safe. Fear was not even on our radar. My father would pull up in the drive way and toss his keys onto the hood of the car, leaving them over night, and in the morning he would get them and head out. We never locked our doors or windows at night. The cool breeze (we did not have air conditioning) through the open windows was a great memory, but as I grew and as America slipped further and further away from God we found ourselves locking our car and doors at night. No longer are our windows open, oh no we are locked up, sealed up tighter than a drum sadly we feared man because we were losing the fear of God. As Karen and I travel around this days visiting churches we are awe struck by the fear we see and hear in the lives of many Christians. We see the fear that man gives to the world through his evil acts of hatred, racism, arrogance, religious rituals, and worse selfishness. You know fear is one of the most debilitating inward emotional forces we contend with. Strange how on one hand fear can be good for us keeping our senses sharp and resilient where we can respond to dangerous situations in our lives, yet on the other hand fear can paralyze our thoughts, spirit, emotions, even our physical health. We all like to laugh in the face of fear, but I am here to tell you my friend fear usually gets the last laugh. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have laid on Karen’s lap before a trip overseas and wrestled with fear. I think fear is the last enemy we must conquer before God can use us in what He has planned for us to do on this earth now and in the next life to come. At the heart, at the center of fear in us (believe it or not) is selfishness. We hate to lose anything. Pastor Jacob from Romania told me one day no one is afraid to die, but what we are afraid of is how we will die and not wanting to suffer. But my friend to conquer fear we all must die. Death in us is the only way to conquer fear. The death I speak of is our spiritual (maybe physical) death where must die to our selfish emotions and ambitious. As long as our “self” is alive there will never be any resurrection life in us. In Romans Paul tells us, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:” (Romans 6:3-5) Did you get that? Newness of life, resurrection life (where we can conquer fear and do the things God has asked us to do) comes out of us being baptized into the death of Christ not being the strongest, bravest, most spiritual Christian in town. Now that is not what most preachers and teachers share. Oh no most teachers and preachers today share a humanistic, performance based religion doing things to get God to do things for us. using our faith to get God to move on our behalf instead of using our faith to align our expectations with God’s will and plan for our lives. Strange, but when we are alive to our “self” and when God’s plan comes to us it can cause fear to develop in us. At this time we must relinquish our thoughts, ambitions, and yes emotions, we must abandon our “self” to God’s loving hands. Strange how it is God’s word to us that can cause us to be uncomfortable and fear, but if we can push through our emotions and all of the phony religion we seem to embrace on the other side is a satisfaction and contentment that only God can give. I see in so many lives a running around in God (zealous, workative, and showy) trying to do things for God when all He wants is for us to die. He does not need us to be a conquering warrior only a humble servant. He will take care of the battle we need no battle axe, oh no all we need is a sling. And at the end of the day either we will fear man or God. If we choose man we then shall fear or please (translated persuade) him because of our selfishness, worrying more to what man says then God. Paul helps us here, “For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10) Sadly today there is not much of a fear of God. Seemingly respect, civility, and wisdom has been flushed from this world leaving most people (Christians included) stuck (narcissistic) on themselves and self-centered not fearing God. You know God does have a big stick, He is not the old man upstairs, and yes He loves us, but He will only put up with us for so long, then He will draw back his love (his stick) to modify our behavior in more with what we must become to be able to do that which He has asked us to do. God cannot and will not use untrained, unapproved (to His ways) children. We must have a fear of God or we will have a fear of man and this my friend will destroy the work of God in our lives and God’s plan for us. We must come to a place in God where we value God’s dealings and judgments over man’s In 1 Chronicles we read of King David’s transgression when he numbered the people of Israel. “And God was displeased with thisthing; therefore he smote Israel. 8 And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly. 9 And the LORDspake unto Gad, David’s seer, saying,
10 Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. 11 So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee 12 Either three years’ famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.
13 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.” (1 Chronicles 21:7-13) King David knew it would be better for him and the nation to fall in to the hands of God than the hands of man. King David knew he if he feared God he would not have to fear man. Let me say that again, King David knew if he feared God he would not have to fear man. Somehow King David knew the truth of the New Testament that there is torment in fear. John tells us, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18) That is the fear of us losing something we hold near and dear to our heart. That is the fear of us not getting what we think we want. When we fear we are troubled in heart and our mind does not work right. I have learned when our heart is not right our head is not right. When we fear man (even our self) our thinking does not align with what God wants for our lives and we find ourselves doing and saying things we would never say and do. In Proverbs, King David’s son King Solomon shared, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: . . ” (Proverbs 23:7) Or as our heart is so we shall be. If our
heart (where we spiritually think) is wrong we shall think wrong spiritually. In the Greek these words are translated, “as a gate swings open wide.” Our heart is that gate to our thoughts and our soul and whatsoever we allow behind the gate (our heart as it swings wide) we shall be that. All throughout the Bible the heart has always been a place of decision. In Revelation 3:20 we read, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20) What door is Jesus knocking on? Our heart of course. And whatsoever we allow behind the door of our heart we will be that. Do we fear man or God? You know the older I get the more fear of God I have. When I was younger I seemed to have this invincibility about me and feared nothing, but now that I am older I see my frailty, the older I get the more I see I am as grass and someday will wither away. The older I get the more I see my weaknesses and understand what King Solomon was talking about when he said, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7) You know the Book of Proverbs really scares me. We read the Proverbs written by King Solomon from his father King David, but the sad thing about Proverbs is King Solomon NEVER learned the lessons from his father. All we have to do is read the Book of Ecclesiastes to see this truth. Yet in the end we see the conclusion as the whole matter is exposed. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13) The conclusion is “Fear God” first (order in the Bible matters) and then “keep His commandments.” Make no mistake my friend you will either fear God and be at rest with Him and man or you will fear man and not have one moment of peace in your life. Again fear has torment. Not only King David and King Solomon knew this truth, but Brother Job, “And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” (Job 28:28) No fear of God no wisdom and no wisdom we will not be able to depart from evil. The fear of God is our all in all in God.
I do have some good news. I do not want to close out this article seemingly down in the mouth, but please know fear not! No matter the situation and circumstance fear not — fear not, God will be with you! It is the folks who do not fear God are the ones who live in a world of ungodly and unrealistic phobias. It is the one who does not fear God who fears man. Man rarely gives mercy and certainly is not longsuffering. When we are wrong and are caught we all want mercy not judgment, but man does not have the capability or heart condition in him to give real mercy and then righteous judgment. Man can only give what he has and if not dealt with by God he can only give of his “selfishness. ” Make no mistake we will either fear man or God it is our choice.
Written by David Stahl
THOUGHTS FROM KAREN:
I’m Ok You’re Ok
Last month I talked about self aware vs self absorbed. If we are totally honest with GOD and ourselves eventually we come to the realization that we are NOT OK. We all are born with a sin nature that is only conquered by the blood of Jesus as we allow His dealings and judgments in our lives. Of course our attitude will go a L O N G way to help GOD as He tries to deal in our lives. I say try because quite frankly some of us give GOD a rough time and we don’t want to change, we think we’re OK. It is the humble and malleable heart that will accept GOD’s correction in their lives. Those with a chip on their shoulder and a haughty spirit will have a MUCH harder time in life and may never grow up in the LORD. It’s our choice we can stay block-heads and not, “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18) or we can humble ourselves and allow GOD to deal in our lives. We are NOT OK. Not by any stretch of the imagination or of the word. Oh, we think we are and we think we’ve got it all in one sock. We think we are it and a big bag of chips. We’re good. Nahhhhh, we go through the motions we act right and do right, but deep in our hearts we know we are not right. We hang on to past hurts, past angers, and past failures, all kinds of stuff. And if you disagree with the above you have just proved my point—thanks! We know so many people that hold such grudges and anger toward other people, yet they look you dead in the eye and declare that they’re Christians! They’re not OK. We’re not supposed to hold grudges against anybody no matter what they’ve done to us. We’re not supposed to drink our selves stupid because we can’t or won’t deal with character flaws. Okay, MAYBE we struggle and can’t or won’t forgive others for perceived sins against us. Or maybe we have wrong thinking and cannot let go of the past. Or perhaps we can’t deal with pain in our lives, but if we do not deal with these hurts in our self and our self strength then we will only repeat the cycle again and again, and worse maybe pass the hurts, wrong thinking, and character flaws on to our kids. The sooner we realize that we are not OK and that we NEED GOD’s divine help the better off we will be. Only the truly humble know they need GOD. Maybe that is why I like these verses in James, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you .8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify yourhearts, ye double minded.” (James 4:6-8) And let me just throw this out there, just because someone said something that made us angry —wait for it—doesn’t mean they’re wrong. We can get our nose out of joint at the truth all we want, it is our choice. But, sometimes truth hurts God has intended it to be so. Either we accept it, CHANGE, and move on or we say poor; me this happened, that happened, somebody said this, etc., etc. Get up, grow up, and move on. GOD wants us to grow up and move on. We are NOT supposed to be stuck in a victim mentality that seems to be so popular these days, everybody is a victim. Well, that is not what the Bible says. Paul tells us, “Nay, in all these things (you name them) we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37) Actually, I believe GOD wants us to be like US Marines and “adapt and overcome” and with GOD’s help we will!!! Then we will be okay. GOD bless
Written by Karen Stahl
NEEDS NO WANTS:
- In Dobrich, Bulgaria Pastor Niki Marsov and in SilistraPastor(s) Yanko, Marcho, and Emil. Times are troubled in Bulgaria much prayer and support is needed.
- Constanta, Romania Pastors Luke and Jacob at Bethel Church and Ian at the Romanian Center for Cross-cultural Studies Bible School.
- In Suceava, Romania Pastors Nicu at St. Andrews Church. They are still standing by God’s grace.
- Pastor Joseph Mutua in Nairobi, Kenya needs your prayer and financial support.
- Pastor Mike Olufemi in Aveile,Nigeria. He needs our prayers and support to be a light in great darkness.
- Pastor S. J. Peter, Founder of DAWN Ministries in Hyderabad and Pastor Wilson and his son Pastor Julian in Sankaraguptham, India.
- Dan, Cathy, and members of Uskudar Son Buyruk Kilisesi in Istanbul, Turkey.
- Pastor Elieti Msangi in Dar Es Salaam and Pastors Isreal Mutaitina and John Balone in Bukoba, Tanzania.
- Monthly financial support for Vivian’s Maternity and Child Care Clinic project in Aviele, Nigeria.
- Pastor Tek Dahl at Gethsemane, Church (his church) and their radio station “Good News 105.1 FM” in Kathmandu, Nepal.
- Bishop John, Samuel Kamanzi (from the Congo), and, Emmanuel Ndolimana in Ruhengeli,Rwanda.
NEXT HOME GROUP MEETING:
20 July at 7:00 pm
At 232 Everett Drive
Sneads Ferry, NC 28460
7:00 pm please RSVP
Guest Speaker will be Dustin Peters
Home: (910) 741-0489
FUTURE SCHEDULE:
July: Local Ministry
August: South Africa and Zimbabwe
September: Local Ministry
Email: charliegolfone@outlook.com
ROCK FELLOWSHIP ON THE RADIO:
On WJCV Jacksonville, NC
1290 AM or 98.3 FM
Every Sunday morning at 9:00 am
I am still available to share what God has given me at churches and/or home groups. If God moves on your heart to support BHG or other ministries we personally know we would be honored to serve as a go between. Remember, if we want a blessing from God the spiritual principle is we must bless others. Remember, God is to you what you are to God.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Address:
David and Karen Stahl
232 Everett Drive
Sneads Ferry, NC 28460
Phone:
Home: (910) 741-0489
Mobile: (910) 382-9287
FAX: (910) 741-0489
Email:
dstahl@beholdinghisglory.com
Website:
www.www.beholdinghisglory.com/
Blog:
http://bhisglory.blogspot.com/
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