Going Against the Pricks

There are times in all of our lives that we go against what the Lord is calling us to do. We hear distinctly what God would have us to do, and yet because of our selfish inclinations we don’t want to do it. There are many types of examples, but I will give you one from the Bible.

Saul was in the counsel among the other Pharisee’s and they were all listening to a young man talk about his belief. The counsel was upset; this young man named Stephen was telling them about the very man they had murdered not too long before, a name in which they had wanted to forget.

The counsel finally got so upset with what the young man was saying that they decided to stone him, so they dragged him out and took him to the place where they stoned people. Saul went with and took the coats of the men who stoned Stephen.

He witnessed how the men acted and how Stephen acted; he heard Stephen pray for his murderer's forgiveness and saw the peace, light, and joy that was on his face when he died.

It left a strong imprint on his mind, one which would stay with him for the rest of his life.

In spite of that fact, Saul turned right around and started to persecute more and more Christians. He was relentless in his cause and in his zeal; he thought that we was doing it for the glory of God.

He got letters of approval from the counsel to carry out the same persecution in a city called Damascus and so he started his journey and headed there.

They soon came out of the desert that they were traveling in and reached a beautiful fertile land, they were not far from Damascus now, their eyes rested upon the lushes grass and trees, their ears enjoying the sweet sounds of nature.

All of a sudden a bright light came down from heaven and shone on Saul and a voice was heard by Saul saying, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? “ Saul was amazed, and trembling he asked, “Lord, who are you?” Then the voice answered and said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, it is hard for you to kick against the prick.”

He then asked what he should do, and it was told to him that he should go into the city and it would be shown to him what he should do next. The light was gone and with it his vision, he was totally and utterly blind. The people who were with him were amazed they wondered what had happened, they had seen the light and heard what sounded like thunder, and now here was their leader, blind!

They lead Saul into the city unto a certain house, and there Saul fasted and prayed for 3 days and nights. There was a righteous man living in Damascus and the Lord appeared unto him and told him to go into the street called straight and to go and heal Saul’s eyesight and tell him to be baptized. Now Ananias, the righteous man, was shocked, he heard about Saul and the great persecutions he had done, and he questioned God and wondered if he had heard right. The Lord told him once again to go unto to Saul for he was going to be a chosen vessel to unto the Gentiles.

So Ananias arose and went unto Saul and prayed over him, and scales fell from off his eyes and he could see. He arose and asked for baptism. His name was changed from Saul to Paul and he became a great apostle for the Lord and used the same kind of zeal that he had used when he was going against the Christian church.

We can learn so much from Paul’s conversion story. For instance, we may believe that we are doing right and may even think that we are serving God, but then God somehow in some way wakes us up to the fact that we are doing the total opposite of what the Lord would have us do.

The Lord calls each of us to a different job, and sometimes we are so adamant against doing it that we turn all of our energy on something else. We make excuses and reasons why we are not doing what the Lord has specifically called us to do. Even though we think we are serving God in another area, we are not doing what He has asked us to.

God sometimes has to use extreme measures to get the message across to our minds. For Paul, God used a bright light to shine across his path. So with us God will shine the light of knowledge across our paths. It may happen in different ways and at different times, and God may try several different times to get it across our minds.

The Lord will do this to us until we have decided one way or the other. If we constantly reject God there may come a point where He draws back. And sometimes by drawing back we often discover that we are headed down the wrong course of action and we turn around. Unfortunately, there are others who never do turn around, and then they die and it is too late.

We must hearken unto the voice of the Lord while He may be found. That means total surrender of ourselves to Him, not just once, but each and every single day.

We should not question or doubt God, but we can ask for confirmation that it is indeed Him that is speaking to us and not another voice. When we receive that confirmation we must act upon it immediately and do what God has said with no hesitation or fear of what may come upon us, just like Ananias did when the Lord appeared unto him and told him to go before Saul.

We must come and do what the Lord has bidden us, before it is too late. Time is running out and Jesus will soon be here, and I want to be ready when He comes, don’t you?

I don’t want to kick against the pricks anymore, do you?

A Cord Out The Window

They were told to go and investigate the land, the land that they had heard about for so many years, one in which they had talked about and maybe even dreamed about for 40 years. Now these two young men were asked to go and spy on this land, what a privilege!

I am talking about the children of Israel, and although we are not told the name of these two spies we are told of the experience that they went through, one in which I am going to take you through.

The land that they were going to spy out was called Jericho. They had probably heard the story of Joshua, when he went in to spy out the land 40 years ago.

They reached the city and probably had a good look around. They then went to the house of a harlot, a woman by the name of Rahab. Perhaps they thought that it would be inconspicuous to stay at her place, people would less likely suspect them if they stayed with a harlot.

Nevertheless, someone, somehow, found out about them and went and told the king what was going on. The people and the king had heard a lot about these Israelites and wanted nothing to do with them. So the king sent soldiers to Rahab’s house and when Rahab saw that that there were soldiers coming, she quickly hid the two men up on her roof underneath her wheat (back in those days they most likely dried out their own wheat).

The soldiers pounded on her door, she answered and asked them what they wanted. The soldiers told her that they heard that there were two men that had come to her and that they found out that these two men were spies to search out the land.

Rahab must have felt a little bit scared and worried knowing that the two men the soldiers were talking of were at that moment on her roof! She quickly told the soldiers there had indeed been two men that had come to her house, but, she said that she had no idea who they were and they had gone away before the gates had closed that night.

The soldiers quickly thanked her for her time and went out of the city in search of these two men. Rahab on the other hand went upstairs and told these two men that they had better go, but she told them not to go immediately back into their camp, “And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way. Joshua 2:16

Then she proceeded to tell these two men that all of the land of Canaan had heard about them and their hearts were melting in fear. She also said that since she had helped them and had spared their lives if the same could be given to her, to spare her life and that of her family. She said that she knew they were going to conquer this land and this city in particular and she wanted the assurance that not only her but her whole family would be safe.

These two men promised her that her and her family would be safe, on one condition. The red cord she was using to help the two men escape with was to be tied out the window of her house, to gather her family inside the house and to not to step foot outside the house until they would tell her it was safe to do so.

But they said that if she repeated any of the things that they were doing or went outside of the house while they were seizing it, their promise would be null and void. Rahab readily agreed and they made a promise right then and there between them and the Lord.

She then let the two men down the wall of Jericho by the red cord and two men went into the mountains just like Rahab had told them to do. In the meantime I am almost sure that Rahab was telling her family to come and stay inside her house, and I am almost positive that the first thing she did was to tie the red cord out her window.

After staying in the mountains for three days and three nights, the two men, went back to camp and told Joshua all that had happened.

Well we don’t have time to go into the story about how the Lord destroyed Jericho using the Israelites, but I will make it short so you can at least get an idea, and then if you would like me to expound on that in another blog, just leave a comment below letting me know.

The Israelites went every day for 6 days and they marched around the city once and on the seventh day they marched around the city 7 times. According to the word of the Lord spoken to Joshua, when they had marched around the city the 7^th time, they stopped and the trumpets were blown and all of the people shouted with a loud voice.

All of a sudden the walls of the city started fall down and it all became as rubble. The Israelites did not have to raise so much as a finger to invade that city; the only thing that they raised was their voices. If you were given spiritual eyesight you would have seen angels around that city destroying it.

The only thing remaining of the city was Rahab’s house, and you could see the cord hanging out the window. Rahab was blessed of God because of what she had done for the 2 Israelite spies. She ended up marrying one of them and having a son named Boaz, Boaz in turn had Obed, Obed had Jesse, and Jesse then had a son named David, who became the well-known King David.

When we are faithful to God and heed His calling, He will bless us like He did the Israelites and like He did Rahab. All we have to do is to step out in faith, and sometimes that means hanging a cord out the window.

I want to have that kind of faith and trust in God, don’t you?

Under His Wings...

Ezekiel 1:8 - And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.

2 Chronicles 3:12 - And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub.

Psalms 17:8 - Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings

Exodus 37:9 - And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims.

Deuteronomy 32:11 - As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings

Exodus 19:4 - Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.

Psalms 63:7 - Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

Psalms 91:4 - He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Isaiah 6:2 - Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

As you can see there are many different types of things that are under God’s wings. All of the things that God places under His wings are protected.

God uses His angels as His wings in a lot of cases. Some of these angels have more than two wings, just think about it; an angel with 6 wings! Some may have two, some four, and others may fly with no wings at all. There may be even some who have more than six wings!

There are several things that angels use their wings for; they cover their faces with their wings when they speak the name of God. They also cover their wings over us to shield us and to protect us. They also spread their wings over the Ark of the Covenant to protect it, and they spread their wings over the throne room of God.

We can know that God’s wings are always going to be there for us to protect us and to keep us from falling. His wings are above and below us. The ones below us are there to keep us from falling and if we do fall to catch us when it happens.

Maybe in a way God is telling us to throw ourselves off of faith’s cliff and trust fully and to rely fully on Him, and when we do throw ourselves we will find that His wings are right there under and over us to keep us going!

I think that it is amazing how God loves us so much that He spreads His wings not only above or below us but surrounds us with His wings! Sometimes we hit storms in our lives and we are not sure if God is there. But if we really think about it, it is God’s wings that keeps the brunt of the storm out and keeps us safe and sheltered within.

I always want God’s wings of protection to be around me, don’t you?

Heaven...

Here is a reading from a book called Heaven, I hope you enjoy it!

By Jesus Alone—“Let not your heart be troubled,” He [Jesus] said; “ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” For your sake I came into the world. I am working in your behalf. When I go away, I shall still work earnestly for you. I came into the world to reveal Myself to you, that you might believe. I go to the Father to cooperate with Him in your behalf. {Hvn 9.1}

The object of Christ’s departure was the opposite of what the disciples feared. It did not mean a final separation. He was going to prepare a place for them, that He might come again, and receive them unto Himself. While He was building mansions for them, they were to build characters after the divine similitude. {Hvn 9.2}

Still the disciples were perplexed. Thomas, always troubled by doubts, said, “Lord, we know not whither Thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him.” {Hvn 10.1}

There are not many ways to heaven. Each one may not choose his own way. Christ says, “I am the way: ... no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” Since the first gospel sermon was preached, when in Eden it was declared that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head, Christ had been uplifted as the way, the truth, and the life. He was the way when Adam lived, when Abel presented to God the blood of the slain lamb, representing the blood of the Redeemer. Christ was the way by which patriarchs and prophets were saved. He is the way by which alone we can have access to God.—The Desire of Ages, 663. {Hvn 10.2}

The Surety of Our Deliverance—By His humanity, Christ touched humanity; by His divinity, He lays hold upon the throne of God. As the Son of man, He gave us an example of obedience; as the Son of God, He gives us power to obey. It was Christ who from the bush on Mount Horeb spoke to Moses saying, “I AM THAT I AM.... Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” Exodus 3:14. This was the pledge of Israel’s deliverance. So when He came “in the likeness of men,” He declared Himself the I AM. The Child of Bethlehem, the meek and lowly Saviour, is God “manifest in the flesh.” 1 Timothy 3:16. And to us He says: “I AM the Good Shepherd.” “I AM the living Bread.” “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.” John 10:11; 6:51; 14:6; Matthew 28:18. I AM the assurance of every promise. I AM; be not afraid. “God with us” is the surety of our deliverance from sin, the assurance of our power to obey the law of heaven.—The Desire of Ages, 24, 25. {Hvn 10.3}

Help Others Find Jesus, The Way—Christ gave Himself to a shameful, agonizing death, showing His great travail of soul to save the perishing. Oh, Christ is able, Christ is willing, Christ is longing, to save all who will come unto Him! Talk to souls in peril and get them to behold Jesus upon the cross, dying to make it possible for Him to pardon. Talk to the sinner with your own heart overflowing with the tender, pitying love of Christ. Let there be deep earnestness; but not a harsh, loud note should be heard from the one who is trying to win the soul to look and live. First have your own soul consecrated to God. As you look upon our Intercessor in heaven, let your heart be broken. Then, softened and subdued, you can address repenting sinners as one who realizes the power of redeeming love. {Hvn 11.1}

Pray with these souls, by faith bringing them to the foot of the cross; carry their minds up with your mind, and fix the eye of faith where you look, upon Jesus the Sin Bearer. Get them to look away from their poor, sinful selves to the Saviour, and the victory is won. They behold for themselves the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. They see the Way, the Truth, the Life. The Sun of Righteousness sheds its bright beams into the heart. The strong tide of redeeming love pours into the parched and thirsty soul, and the sinner is saved to Jesus Christ. {Hvn 11.2}

Christ crucified—talk it, pray it, sing it, and it will break and win hearts. This is the power and wisdom of God to gather souls for Christ. Formal, set phrases, the presentation of merely argumentative subjects, is productive of little good. The melting love of God in the hearts of the workers will be recognized by those for whom they labor. Souls are thirsting for the waters of life. Do not be empty cisterns. If you reveal the love of Christ to them, you may lead the hungering, thirsting ones to Jesus, and He will give them the bread of life and the water of salvation.—Testimonies for the Church 6:66, 67. {Hvn 12.1}

The True Path That Leads to Heaven—Many are losing the right way, in consequence of thinking that they must climb to heaven, that they must do something to merit the favor of God. They seek to make themselves better by their own unaided efforts. This they can never accomplish. Christ has made the way by dying our Sacrifice, by living our Example, by becoming our great High Priest. He declares, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” If by any effort of our own we could advance one step toward the ladder, the words of Christ would not be true. But when we accept Christ, good works will appear as fruitful evidence that we are in the way of life, that Christ is our way, and that we are treading the true path that leads to heaven.—The Review and Herald, November 4, 1890. {Hvn 12.2}

Keynote of Scriptures—One of the most solemn and yet most glorious truths revealed in the Bible is that of Christ’s second coming to complete the great work of redemption. To God’s pilgrim people, so long left to sojourn in “the region and shadow of death,” a precious, joy-inspiring hope is given in the promise of His appearing, who is “the resurrection and the life,” to “bring home again His banished.” The doctrine of the second advent is the very keynote of the Sacred Scriptures. From the day when the first pair turned their sorrowing steps from Eden, the children of faith have waited the coming of the Promised One to break the destroyer’s power and bring them again to the lost Paradise. {Hvn 13.1}

Holy men of old looked forward to the advent of the Messiah in glory, as the consummation of their hope. Enoch, only the seventh in descent from them that dwelt in Eden, he who for three centuries on earth walked with his God, was permitted to behold from afar the coming of the Deliverer. “Behold,” he declared, “the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all.” Jude 14, 15. The patriarch Job in the night of his affliction exclaimed with unshaken trust: “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: ... in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.” Job 19:25-27.—The Great Controversy, 299. {Hvn 13.2}

To Take His People Home—Christ has declared that He will come the second time to gather His faithful ones to Himself: “Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matthew 24:30, 31.—The Great Controversy, 37. {Hvn 14.1}

The promise of Christ’s second coming was ever to be kept fresh in the minds of His disciples. The same Jesus whom they had seen ascending into heaven, would come again, to take to Himself those who here below give themselves to His service. The same voice that had said to them, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end,” would bid them welcome to His presence in the heavenly kingdom.—The Acts of the Apostles, 33. {Hvn 14.2}

The proclamation of Christ’s coming should now be, as when made by the angels to the shepherds of Bethlehem, good tidings of great joy. Those who really love the Saviour cannot but hail with gladness the announcement founded upon the Word of God that He in whom their hopes of eternal life are centered is coming again, not to be insulted, despised, and rejected, as at His first advent, but in power and glory, to redeem His people. It is those who do not love the Saviour that desire Him to remain away, and there can be no more conclusive evidence that the churches have departed from God than the irritation and animosity excited by this Heaven-sent message.—The Great Controversy, 339, 340. {Hvn 14.3}

These truths, as presented in Revelation 14 in connection with “the everlasting gospel,” will distinguish the church of Christ at the time of His appearing. For as the result of the threefold message it is announced: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” And this message is the last to be given before the coming of the Lord. Immediately following its proclamation the Son of man is seen by the prophet, coming in glory to reap the harvest of the earth.—The Great Controversy, 453, 454. {Hvn 15.1}

Freedom From Sin—This earth has been trodden by the Son of God. He came to bring men light and life, to set them free from the bondage of sin. He is coming again in power and great glory, to receive to Himself those who during this life have followed in His footsteps.—Letter 117, 1903 quoted in . {Hvn 15.2}

“The Redemption of the Purchased Possession.”—God’s original purpose in the creation of the earth is fulfilled as it is made the eternal abode of the redeemed. “The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.” The time has come to which holy men have looked with longing since the flaming sword barred the first pair from Eden—the time for “the redemption of the purchased possession.” The earth originally given to man as his kingdom, betrayed by him into the hands of Satan, and so long held by the mighty foe, has been brought back by the great plan of redemption. {Hvn 15.3}

All that was lost by the first Adam will be restored by the second. The prophet says, “O Tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto Thee shall it come, even the first dominion.” And Paul points forward to the “redemption of the purchased possession.” {Hvn 16.1}

God created the earth to be the abode of holy, happy beings. That purpose will be fulfilled when, renewed by the power of God and freed from sin and sorrow, it shall become the eternal home of the redeemed.—The Review and Herald, October 22, 1908 quoted in The Adventist Home, 540. {Hvn 16.2}

To Make All Things New—The work of redemption will be complete. In the place where sin abounded, God’s grace much more abounds. The earth itself, the very field that Satan claims as his, is to be not only ransomed but exalted. Our little world, under the curse of sin the one dark blot in His glorious creation, will be honored above all other worlds in the universe of God. Here, where the Son of God tabernacled in humanity; where the King of glory lived and suffered and died—here, when He shall make all things new, the tabernacle of God shall be with men, “and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.” And through endless ages as the redeemed walk in the light of the Lord, they will praise Him for His unspeakable Gift—Immanuel, “God with us.”The Desire of Ages, 26. {Hvn 16.3}

Cost of Redemption Realized—Never can the cost of our redemption be realized until the redeemed shall stand with the Redeemer before the throne of God. Then as the glories of the eternal home burst upon our enraptured senses we shall remember that Jesus left all this for us, that He not only became an exile from the heavenly courts, but for us took the risk of failure and eternal loss. Then we shall cast our crowns at His feet, and raise the song, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.” Revelation 5:12.—The Desire of Ages, 131. {Hvn 17.1}

Earth’s Purpose Fulfilled—God created the earth to be the abode of holy, happy beings. The Lord “formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited.” Isaiah 45:18. That purpose will be fulfilled, when, renewed by the power of God, and freed from sin and sorrow, it shall become the eternal abode of the redeemed. “The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever.” “And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him.” Psalm 37:29; Revelation 22:3.—Patriarchs and Prophets, 67. {Hvn 17.2}

Jesus Suffered to Save—I saw the beauty of heaven. I heard the angels sing their rapturous songs, ascribing praise, honor, and glory to Jesus. I could then realize something of the wondrous love of the Son of God. He left all the glory, all the honor which He had in heaven, and was so interested for our salvation that He patiently and meekly bore every indignity and slight which man could heap upon Him. He was wounded, smitten, and bruised; He was stretched on Calvary’s cross and suffered the most agonizing death to save us from death, that we might be washed in His blood and be raised up to live with Him in the mansions He is preparing for us, to enjoy the light and glory of heaven, to hear the angels sing, and to sing with them.—Testimonies for the Church 1:123, 124. {Hvn 17.3}