No cross no power

You cannot ‘apply the cross’ to yourself with your mind or understanding. You must carry it, spiritually. Suffering is the cup that christians are predestined to drink. Believing in Jesus is believing in drinking the cup of suffering so that God can have His will done in us.

The reason why christians fail is because they do not carry the cross, or that they are parttime carriers of the cross. When in adversity, they carry the cross, but when the pressure is off, they put the cross down and take a break. During the breaks that they take and think it’s fine they are covered under the blood, then suddenly the devourer comes and attacks them unaware and they are unable to overcome him. Why? When one does not carry the cross, he is spiritually unguarded and unsober, missing the whole purpose of Christ’s promises in them. So satan sees the one taking a break from his cross to devour him. The cross Jesus gave us to carry is for our spiritual protection. Of great power in that when we take it up we are putting on Jesus Christ and cannot be overcomed. No cross no power. Jesus knows if you are carrying the cross or not. You cannot claim the blood over you without carrying the cross. To deny suffering is to deny Jesus. One who carries the cross has resigned to self-preservation, he is as a sheep that opened not his mouth and is led to the slaughter and he trusts God to deliver him only and will not resist evil. Just like Jesus, we must also walk.

The Cross is power to all who carry it willingly. “Looking unto Jesus, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right Hand of the throne of God.”

The LORD is showing me that many people who are weighed down by worldly and earthly cares (which He never burdened them about) will put down their crosses in order to bear the burden of those worldly and earthly cares. Foolish christians. They will learn that there is no other way, things will get much worse for them who seek to preserve their earthly lives. It is through surrender and total abandonment in absolute faith in Jesus Christ, that they will find life, now and for eternity. God has made it so, that to see His provision, one must first seek His Kingdom.

We are on a mission, not on a vacation. We are not saved until we endure to the very end. We are under trial and probation, always seeking to be approved by God in all our ways. Carry your crosses, deny your self and then you will be fit to follow Jesus and be worthy of what He wants to reveal to us, in these end times.

Humility leads to grace and to faith

God revealed to me today, that it is not my faith that was the foundation of my walk with Him, but it was His grace. Since the day I decided I could not walk alone (independently of His Help)…

One can have faith but without humility (that causeth one to depend on God and not self), he will not receive the grace of God to walk by faith.

Let me die

[Before leaving South Africa, wife wanted to pronounce a final benediction, especially upon the ministry. Hence she re-printed the following tract which I had written nearly forty years ago and sent it out to over 300 ministers of various denominations. Many appreciated it and went to digging for fresh oil. One able minister wrote that he was guilty of everything herein named. We give it again that others may be helped.]

* * *

TRAITS OF THE CARNAL MIND

The following are some of the features and manifestations of carnality:

Reader, the Spirit ALONE can interpret and apply this tract to your individual case. As you read, examine yourself as if in the immediate presence of God. Do you ever feel

1. A secret sense of pride; an exalted feeling in view of your success or position; because of your good training and appearance; because of your natural gifts and abilities; an important, independent spirit; stiffness and preciseness; married to your opinion?

2. Love of human praise; a secret fondness to be noticed; love of supremacy; drawing attention to self in conversation; a swelling out of the ego when you have had a free time in speaking or praying!

3. The stirrings of anger or impatience — but worst of all you call it nervousness or holy indignation; a touchy, sensitive spirit; a disposition to resent and retaliate when reproved or contradicted; sharp, heated flings at another?

4. Self will; a stubborn, unteachable spirit; an arguing, talkative spirit; harsh, sarcastic expressions; an unyielding, headstrong disposition; a driving, commanding spirit; a disposition to criticize and pick flaws when set aside and unnoticed; a peevish, fretful spirit; a disposition that loves to be coaxed and humored?

5. Carnal fear, a man-fearing spirit; a shrinking from reproach and duty; reasoning around the cross; a shrinking from doing your whole duty by those of wealth or position; a fearfulness that some one will get out of the Spirit and thus offend and drive some prominent person away; a compromising, holding-back spirit?

6. A jealous disposition; a secret spirit of envy shut up in your heart; an unpleasant sensation in view of the great prosperity and success of another; a disposition to speak of the faults and failings rather than the gifts and virtues of those more talented and appreciated than yourself?

7. Lustful stirrings; unholy actions, a carnal leaning; undue affection and familiarity toward those of the opposite sex; wandering eyes; looking the second time?

8. A dishonest, deceitful disposition; evading and covering the truth; covering up your real faults; leaving a better impression of yourself than is strictly true; false humility; exaggeration; straining the truth when it is to your advantage?

9. Unbelief; a spirit of discouragement in times of pressure and opposition; lack of quietness and confidence in God; lack of faith and trust in God; a disposition to worry and complain in the midst of pain, poverty, or at the dispensations of Divine Providence; an overanxious feeling whether everything will come out all right?

10. Formality and. deadness; lack of concern for lost souls; dryness and indifference; lack of power with God? Selfishness, love of ease; love of money, etc.?

These are some of the traits which generally indicate a carnal heart. If one principle is lurking there, you can depend on it, they are ALL there. By prayer and fasting hold your heart open to the searching light of God until you see the groundwork thereof. The Holy Ghost will enable you, by confession and faith, to bring your “old man” to the death. “Knowing this that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” (Romans 6:6.) Do not patch over, but go to the bottom. It will pay. Hallelujah! (E. E. S.)

Let Me Die

O God, my heart doth long for Thee
Let me die! Let me die!
Now set my soul at liberty;
Let me die! Let me die!
Die to the trifling things of earth,
There now to me of little worth;
My Savior calls — I’m going forth;
Let me die! Let me die!

My friends may say I’ll ruined be,
If I die! If I die!
If I leave all and follow Thee,
But I’ll die! Yes, I’ll die!
Their arguments will never weigh,
Nor stand the trying judgment day;
Help me to cast them all away,
Let me die! Let me die!

Thy slaying power in me display,
Let me die! Let me die!
I must be dead from day to day;
Let me die! Let me die!
Dead to the world and its applause,
To all the customs, fashions, laws,
Of those who hate the humbling cross;
Let me die! Let me die!

Oh, I must die to scoffs and sneers,
Let me die! Let me die!
I must be freed from slavish fears;
Let me die! Let me die!
So dead that no desire will rise
To appear good or great or wise,
In any but my Savior’s eyes;
Let me die! Let me die!

When I am dead then, Lord, to Thee
Will I live, will I live.
My time, my strength, my all to Thee
Will I give, will I give.
I’ll work for Thee, my blessed Lord;
I’ll be obedient to Thy Word;
I’ll wield with power the Gospel sword.
While I live, while I live.

http://www.raptureready.com/resource/shelhamer/hdm1499_31.html

Under God’s anointing or under the yoke of the Assyrian

Obedient children of God abide under the anointing, they are covered in Christ.

Disobedient children of God remain under Pharoah’s yoke.

Examples of Pharoah’s yoke: fear of the disapproval of man, fear of losing one’s life and possessions, the fear of what harm man can do to oneself.

Faith leads us into God’s rest, a place of God’s provision of grace sufficient for all things that we may need to overcome. The anointing breaks every bondage of satan, every yoke laid upon by the cruel taskmaster of THE LAW. All are under the law and this yoke, except for those who by faith are walking in the Spirit.

How to abide under His anointing?
Obey His voice and walk according to His guidance. Being steadfast in your faith in Jesus. Remember it is all Him when you humble yourself down to zero. Recognise that your ‘self’ is useless and must go to the cross. Your spirit is empowered by God and effective for His Will and purpose.

1. Humble your self before God.
2. Deny self take up the cross, walk as Jesus walked. Obedient unto death.

Nothing can overcome a servant of God who abides under His anointing. It is spiritual hedge and protection of God. The key: HUMILTY. TRUE HUMILITY. WALK IN REPENTANCE. WALK IN HUMILTY. KNOW THAT YOUR BOAST IS ONLY THE GRACE OF GOD UPON YOU. NOT THAT YOU ARE GOOD OR WORTHY………….. (These things most christians fail to realise and so fail to overcome satan….)

One cannot quote scripture and expect to be the scripture he quoted.
He must BE (OBEY) the scripture he is able to quote. He must decide that for the scripture to be true, he must bend over backwards in submission for the truth to become part of his inner man… not by his own strength but by God’s grace. And God gives grace to them who humble themselves…. do you see the connection? If you are willing (have faith), God will do it in you. If you are unwilling (no faith), God will not do it in you. He cannot go against His Word or His Ways. He cannot force you. No man can twart your will. God can if He wants to but He won’t. He wants you to do it because you want to, not because you have to… He is a gracious and benevolent God, and infinite in His wisdom.

Is it going to take tremendous self control and discipline? YES ABSOLUTELY. Not the kind that comes from mind-behaviour modification, but The Holy Spirit. It is going to take much carrying of the cross (suffering) to become perfect in Christ. In Jesus’ footsteps.

Recognise now that all this is going to take tremendous spiritual strength that cannot be found in self.

It is going to be God’s GRACE – His provision and empowerment, His strength manifesting through our weaknesses…….

Realising this will lead you to surrender more and more of your life unto Him, to seek His Face and to know what and how He wants you to walk…… it is the narrow road, you cannot walk without His guidance at every step, you need to spend much time in His Presence, no time for selfish agendas… all passions must be crucified. It is a matter of life or death in your spirit. The whole world is following other spirits, you must beware and come away and set yourself apart to hear from The Holy Spirit that you may follow in Jesus’ footsteps……

Be filled with Holy Spirit. How? Pray pray pray don’t stop communing with God in your heart as you pass by each moment of your day, His Presence over you is your hiding place.

Don’t bounce back

Don’t bounce back.

When God is humbling you under His Mighty Hand, stay humbled and contrite. How? Carry your cross, deny your self, obey Him, do His Will not your own. The past experiences of failure is your reminder to walk circumspectly now, changing your old ways.

Don’t bounce back after a trial, but turn from the ways of the past.

Turn, repent, be changed, He will renew and strengthen the willing and yielded vessels.

Your thoughts are not my thoughts

… LORD, indeed Your thoughts are not mine. Why should I ponder so much and trust in my own understanding? I shouldn’t. Instead I should submit, surrender and rest in the faith that Jesus undertakes when I depend on Him and not my self….

I am perpetually wrong in my thinking of things. I am so glad that I am wrong, my thoughts are so limiting.

In resistance is pain

Let go, surrender, don’t resist evil. When the storms are around you, make no plans and no moves, as you submit to God and be still, He will keep you in perfect peace right in the eye of the storm.

Resist satan (his devices to cause you to disobey God) but never never never resist the evil that men do to do because then you will miss out on God’s anointing which will be pouring out upon you in the presence of your enemies. When the anointing falls upon you, every yoke is broken by the power of God, the yoke of the assyrian is no more, because you have passed the test by enduring the afflictions and choosing to carry the cross.

The anointing is what we need, not the escape from our enemies. Overcoming all we shall rule and reign with Jesus.

Submit to God, resist satan and he will flee from you.

Turn the other cheek and when you do the anointing will fall upon you and your enemies (the demons) will flee 7 ways.

A sign you are a true christian, is that your enemies flee, not because you oppress them but God oppresses them on your behalf.

If you oppress them you will not receive the grace and anointing of God, and satan want you to do just that – to fail the test of endurance and patience so you can overcome in Christ.

Christians don’t fight in the flesh, they war in spirit against their own flesh and submit them selves to God.

Therefore they never need to fear.

Seeing Jesus

See Jesus, don’t see you.

Put on Jesus, put off you.

Turn away from self, turn to Jesus.

Be emptied of self, be filled with The Holy Spirit.

Left right, front back, centre, it will be Jesus that people see when you talk and walk and be before their eyes. They will not see you anymore.

Please don’t have a self-image. Please don’t look in the mirror to check out your self. When you look in the mirror, you will see only Jesus, that is if you have put off your self, as you have been commanded.

Self-image is going to conflict with Jesus-image.
Don’t be conformed to self-image. It is a bondage. Be free.
+ve self-image is self.
-ve self-image is self.
Self-image is vanity. In truth, self-image is nothing good.

Jesus-image is the image of perfection!

I am speaking spiritual terms, not behavioural modification.

When the truth is understood in your inward man, the spirit responds to The Holy Spirit in obedience and conformity.

Every morning, put off self and put on Jesus.

Every afternoon, put off self and put on Jesus.

Every evening, put off self and put on Jesus.

Every moment, put off self and put on Jesus.

When there is no moment for self, Jesus is able to have His way with you 100%. You will then be very effective for His Kingdom.

Until self is fully crucified, fully dead, it will fight for its existence, it will fight with Jesus.

And Jesus will not force His Will upon self, but self must choose to submit to Jesus, to go to the Cross with Jesus, to die and be resurrected with Jesus.

Self was crucified 2000 years ago. Do you believe that?

WAKE UP. PUT OFF SELF AS AN OLD SHED SKIN, IT IS DEAD AND CANNOT BE RESURRECTED. IT IS NOW ALL JESUS……

Children of God rest

LET THE WORLD STRIVE,
CHILDREN OF GOD REST,
in the faith of their LORD Jesus Christ.

And to whom sware He that they should not enter into His rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into God’s rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. Hebrews 3:18-19, 4:9-11

Stress is not from God

Fretting, worrying, frustration are not from God.

They are the result of walking in the flesh.

The ‘old man’ of unbelief loves to fret, worry and be frustrated.

The ‘old man’ loves to focus on his pain, his problems, his unfortunate circumstances. The ‘old man’ wants sympathy and attention, so it can continue its existence. He will whine and complain to justify its existence. It is reasonable. (Reason is not of faith, it is carnal and of the flesh – ‘old man’)

The ‘spirit man’ does not entertain the wiles of the ‘old man’, the ‘spirit man’ is gentle and easy to entreat, kind to a fault, gracious and compassionate, he is patient and is never stressed out. His peace is of God and he loves peace more than anything. His joy is of God and he finds strength in the joy that God blesses him with. He never allows circumstances to get him down. He never rises up in retaliation. He fights by keeping his faith and letting God undertake for his situation through surrender and submission. He simply ‘stands and see the salvation of God’ and he stands in faith and sees satan fleeing from him in 7 ways. He abides in the rest of God. Evil report does not move him, he knows nothing is in his own control and everything is a test from God, to see if ‘spiritual man’ will turn his back on God, turn back to the ‘old man’ of unbelief.

Stress is not from God. If you find your self stressing out in order to fulfil the commands of God, boy, you have not got the grace of God that He gives to all who exercise faith in Jesus Christ.

He also gives grace to the humble.

The humble are they who surrender all to Him, they don’t say “I can do it’ rather ‘I can’t do it, God’s going to do it for me, I trust Him.’

Remember the old saying, ‘sighing is not good for the soul’.

We are not meant to do the works of God by our own strength, by our own breath. It is a supernatural spiritual strength, that comes from total dependence and leaning upon The One who empowers and strengthens him.

God will not strengthen the strong. The strong are the ones who think they are strong (they have not realised they are feeble folk)..

God will not strengthen them who don’t wait upon Him and look to their own understanding (reasoning). They that wait upon Him shall renew their strength: they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Stress is the result of fear and the reaction to fear which is to control one’s life.

Peace is the result of faith and the response to faith which is to rest and surrender to God’s control.

Ah, what a great way to live without any disturbance no matter the circumstance!

It is God’s grace. Thank Him if you have come to this state of your walk with Him, if you haven’t, you need to come to terms with your unbelief in Him, and not justify your fears.

Fear is not from God.

Fear is being overcomed by evil (satan).

God wants us to overcome all.
He has made us to overcome through Jesus.

PRAISE THE LORD.