For years the Israelites had longed to be ruled by a human king. And, finally, God allowed it. He told the prophet Samuel to anoint Saul to be ruler over Israel. So the prophet met with Saul, poured a vial of oil over his head, and kissed him. Then he told Saul, "The Lord hath appointed thee to be captain over his inheritance" (1 Samuel 10:1).
If you're serious about your walk with God, then you want to get to know your heavenly father. And so you may study his majesty, his power, his glory. But do you know your Lord's human face?
You may wonder what I mean by this. After all, we know God is spirit and that he's invisible to us. Scripture states plainly, "No man hath seen God at any time..." (John 1:18). So, how can God have a human face?
"I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out [turned out] rather unto the furtherance of the gospel" (Philippians 1:12).
In this verse, Paul tells the Christians in Philippi not to worry about all the things they'd heard had befallen him. And those "things" included great afflictions and infirmities!
I believe Solomon represents the spirit and nature of the modern, last-day Laodicean church. And this church — here in America and throughout the world — is headed for the same ruin Solomon faced!
Scripture tells us:
"And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly...." (2 Chronicles 1:1).
In recent weeks the Holy Spirit has been leading me to pray for a greater understanding of God's love to me. After reading 1 John 4:16, I realized how very little I knew about living and walking in God's love. John wrote in his epistle: "We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him."
We are living in the days of final preparation. In heaven, in hell and on earth, tremendous activity is erupting as all of creation anticipates the culmination of man’s history.
If the Holy Spirit were to pull the scales from our eyes, we believers would be both joyful and horrified at what we'd see. We'd cry out, "What is going on? Why is everyone rushing about so determined, so intense? What are all these elaborate, mind-boggling preparations about? What's in the wind? What is about to happen?"
"And the Lord was with Judah; and he drove out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron" (Judges 1:19). "But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong" (Joshua 17:18).
Satan himself acknowledges that God has a protective hedge all around the righteous and that the hedge protects not only themselves but all that they have — including their descendants.
When seeking to tear Job down, Satan complained to God, "Hast thou not made a hedge around him, and his house, and all that he has on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land" (Job 1:10).
"And there shall be famines, and troubles, and these are the beginning of sorrows…" (Mark 13:8).
There is a terrible famine raging in the land today. It's not a food famine. In fact, the United States has been producing such an overabundance of food the government is currently devising a number of incentives for farmers to take some of their land out of production.
Resurrection from the dead is the "ultimate healing." I tried to share that glorious truth with the grieving parents of a five-year-old boy who had died just hours before of leukemia. They had begged God for the healing of their dear child. The whole church prayed earnestly. Friends had prophesied: "He will not die; he will be healed." One week prior to the little boy's death, the heartbroken father picked the fevered child up in his arms and walked him around the room. "God, I'll not give him up. Your promises are true. My faith has never faltered.
