A Personal Christmas

A Personal Christmas

Selah for Today 08-29-2019- Think!

It’s not what happens TO YOU, but IN YOU that shapes You. 
Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV) “ For as he thinks in his heart, so is he... and Romans 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

A Special Devotion Psalm 91 from CBN.com, Enjoy this Blessing today.

Who Are You Part 2

In Part 1, we discussed being the servant and the attitude of a servant that keeps us from becoming who we truly are in Christ. The key to remember is that God’s grace still keeps us and God sees us as we ready are, no matter how we think and see ourselves. Abram saw himself as a servant, God called him a friend.

  This part of the teaching we shall look at ourselves as kings and priests. The scriptures for this are:

1 Peter 2:9-10 (AMP) 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God's] own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…

    Exodus 19:5-8 (AMP) ⁵Now therefore, if you will obey My voice in truth and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own peculiar possession and treasure from among and above all peoples; for all the earth is Mine.⁶And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation [consecrated, set apart to the worship of God]…

  These two scriptures, among many, make reference to being kings and priests. This goes back to the very beginning when God told Adam; he had dominion over all the earth. This is kingship.

A king has authority and power to establish laws and to enforce those laws. Adam only had one greater authority above him and that was God, The King of Kings.

   The kings of Israel were supposed to represent the King of Kings, the Lord God to his people. They were to be examples the goodness, the mercy, and protection of God for his people. The king was also to lead the people to God. The king was to seek the counsel of God on how to lead the people. Sadly nearly every king of Israel failed in these responsibilities.

    The priests were not only to make sacrifices to God and worship Him; they were to teach the people about God. They were to teach people that, their sin kept them from God but that God had made a way through the atonement sacrifices for their sins they could have a relationship with God. The priests were also to teach all the people of the earth God’s message of love and mercy through the atonement. God never intended that Israel were the only ones to have a relationship with Him.

  Priests and kings have a relationship with God. They are invited to do more than just make petitions in the Throne of God. They are invited into the banquet hall; share the table of God’s blessings, to eat and drink with Him. They can hear God plans and discuss those plans and with God’s help implement those plans. They are also given their own authority and power under the King of Kings to do the work they have been assigned. 

  We believers in Christ Jesus are the kings and priest of God today. We have been given authority, Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:15-18 and the power came in Acts 2:1-4.

  As great as all this is we, as with the servant, are more than a king or a priest. In fact, we are much more as we will see in Part 3.

©COPYRIGHT 2012 RICHARD SPANGLER

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“Adventures in the Spirit A Series of Prophetic Visions"  

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The Adam Relationship

As we know, God is restoring all things. When we say this we are thinking of the restoration of the 5-fold ministry and gifts of the Spirit. Then, all members of the Body of Christ doing the work of the ministry.

 But, the Lord is restoring beyond those things. His will and purpose is to restore our relationship with Him. This relationship goes beyond the relationship that King David had, beyond what Joshua and Moses had, beyond what Enoch enjoyed. As wonderful as these relationships were, God wants to bring us back to the relationship that Adam had in the Garden of Eden.

  This a place of not only knowing the Will of God for our lives, not only knowing His Voice and seeing what He is doing and moving with Him but knowing Him intimately.  It is a place of knowing His footsteps and not only hearing His heartbeat but that we will know what it is to be in the center of His Heart.

This is the Call of Father God for each of us. This is the purpose of sending His Son Jesus Christ and the giving us the Fullness of the Holy Spirit overflowing our lives.

  Sadly, many of us never even move beyond the basics of being saved and being filled with the Holy Spirit but there is a desire for more but many never get to the more of God. This creates a sense of frustration in our spirits and eventually leads many to settle for what that have. There are others who attempt to do it in their own strength. This often leads to a legalistic life of reading so much of Word of God, and praying many hours a day. These things are good as tools and need to happen but the Word without the Spirit and prayer without the Spirit lead only to an intellectual knowledge about the relationship with God.

 

So, how do we reach the relationship that God has purposed us and created us to be in with Him. This requires a shift in the way we do things for God. It requires a shift in our attitude about our relationship with God, our Father. We must realize that relationship is more than what we do for Him.  

   Relationship comes from spending time with one another not just in the doing of things.  The time factor is key. Sadly, many do what has been mentioned above, read the Bible, some study the Bible (there is a difference) and they pray. This is where most of us stumble, we make prayer a one-way litany of our needs with a little praise and thanksgiving to top it off. Then, we are out the door, expecting an answer, but never taking time to listen or spend time with the one we are praying to.

   Listening is the beginning of relationship. Psalm 46:10 the NRSV, NIV, ESV, KJV all translate this way, “Be still, and know that I am God.” The NASB says,” Cease striving and know that I am God” and the AMP version, “Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God.” In all of these translations, God is saying to us to “stop” realize Who I Am.

How do we be still and start listening? I started, 8 years ago, by stopping for 5 minutes at the start of each day, now this means turning off all distractions in our lives, TV, computers, tablets and yes cell phones, and I inviting God come. I would say this: “Father I want to be with you, come and be with me.” Then, I would wait, thinking on God, with expectation that He would come. This takes some training to keep your mind from wandering off to other things but you can do it as I did.

 Since then my time with the Father has grown and grown, it how goes well beyond the 5 minutes, it is developing into more and more intimate relationship with God.

  It has become a knowing that God is with me every day, all day and this fact makes my life exciting and an Adventure in the Spirit, daily.

   Salvation opens the way. Being filled with Holy Spirit gives us the power. Studying the Word of God gives us knowledge and prayer starts the communication. Taking time to invite God to come and be with us, waiting and listening for Him are the first steps in the restoration of the Adam Relationship in our lives.

 There is much more to come. You can begin to experience this relationship with God. God wants you to have it, all you have to do is willing to spend time with Him.

©COPYRIGHT 2016 RICHARD L SPANGLER

Adventures in the Spirit Amazon.com

The Gatekeepers

Enjoy this article from 2010, I hope it blesses you

By Richard Spangler

  We, believers have been asking God to release a flood of the Holy Spirit into our nation and the earth. This Holy Spirit Flood will happen when we understand that we have a reservoir of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. As in the natural every reservoir (heart) has a dam and each dam has floodgates of the Spirit and we are the gatekeepers. The gatekeepers control the flow of the Holy Spirit out of our hearts.

 Sadly, many gatekeepers (believers) try to keep the floodgates closed and hold on to all that God has given them. They only allow a few splashes of the overflow of the Spirit to flow out. They do not understand that the reservoir of the Holy Spirit in their hearts is greater than they can imagine. Colossians 2:9-10 states, For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given the fullness of Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.(NIV). In other words, we have the fullness of God in Christ in the reservoirs of our hearts waiting to be released.

  We as gatekeepers must open all the floodgates of our hearts and allow the River of the Holy Spirit to flow out into our lives and the world.  This River of the Holy Spirit has all the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and all the Gifts of the Spirit (I Corinthians 12:8-10) and all we have to do is open the floodgates to have access to everything in God and all that God is. We are not limited to just one or two of the Gifts of the Spirit, just as we are not limited to having one or two of the Fruits of the Spirit in our lives. God wants all of the Gifts of the Spirit as well as all of the Fruit of the Spirit out of our lives. All we need to do is open the floodgates and the Holy Spirit will guide us.

  The more we allow the Holy Spirit to flow out of us, the more we receive from God. The Law of Use and the Law of Multiplication come into divine activation into our lives. We get much more of God than we give out. God will continually expand and overflow the reservoirs of our hearts. This will cause an even greater flow of the River of the Spirit to flow out to the world.

    Our nation is a dry and thirsty land and it needs the flow of the River of the Spirit. This is the only way to change the course of our nation and bring about the great awakening that we need. So, take the step of faith, be a gatekeeper that opens wide the floodgates and be a part of the next great awakening in this nation and the world. 

 

  

  ©COPYRIGHT 2010 RICHARD SPANGLER

 

 

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A Psalm 91 Life

By Richard Spangler

   I am sitting in my chair, trying to decide what to write. Then the issues of the day begin to crowd my mind. Will there be an economic collapse or boom? Will the upcoming elections mean change for the better or for the worst? Will there be war? Will there be another terrorist attack in our country? Then on a personal level: Will I be able to lose the weight I want to lose this year? Will I get my first book published? Will I move forward financially?  What will it be like being a grandfather?

   Just one of these questions can lead you down the road of fear and anxiety if you allow them.  Put them all together and you have a mountain of uncertainty.  Many people are in fear and panic because of these questions, including many Christians. They are asking, “Is there hope? Can I survive? What, if anything can I do?”

  Yes, there is hope in God! In the Bible God promises, “Because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place, There shall no evil befall you, nor any plague or calamity come near your tent”(Psalm 91:9-10 Amp).

God also states in Psalm 91 that He will cover you; He will give angels charge over you, no pestilence (no disease), no sudden death, nor any evil shall befall you. And the list goes on.

The key to these promises is found in verse 14, “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name [has a personal knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness--trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never forsake him, no, never]”(Psalm 91:14 AMP).

  As you determine with your mind to love God and set your heart to do so, you take the first turn of the key for the promises of God found in Psalm 91.

Many of you have taken that first turn of the key by accepting Jesus Christ into your heart. For those who have not, there is no better time than now.

    The next turn of the key is equally as important. It is getting to know God with a personal knowledge of His mercy, love and kindness. It is discovering Who God is, and not just by reading the Bible and praying.

This happens two ways. First, meditate, don’t just reading the Bible, but think about what you are reading. According to Webster’s Dictionary, Meditate is: to engage in contemplation or reflection: to focus one's thoughts on: reflect on or ponder over. In other words, take time to think about what you are reading. In our fast paced society we scan more than we read.

    We scan e-mails, texts, letters and articles without reading them and thinking about what is being said. Take time with the Bible, stop and ask, “What does this mean? How does this apply to my life?” Ask the Lord to help you understand and to teach you. Don’t scan it and walk away saying, “I’ve done my Bible reading for the day.” and check it off of that never ending To Do List.

Secondly, it happens by making time for God, spending time with Him. Remember, God created man to spend time with Him. An example of this is in the Bible.

“And out of the ground the Lord God formed every [wild] beast and living creature of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them; and whatever Adam called every living creature, that was its name” (Genesis 2:19 AMP).

God would create an animal, and then bring it to Adam to name. God was interested to see what name would be given. I imagine that was some discussion of the creature’s design and purpose between God and Adam. This took time.

 Also, in Genesis, “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day…But the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you” (Genesis 3:8-9 AMP)?

This shows God coming to spend time with Adam and Eve. This was not unusual for Adam and Eve. They even knew the sound of God walking and would go out to meet and spend time with God. This is what God wants, for us to know Him. This is why Jesus came to earth, so that a way would be open for man to be able to spend time with God and know him again.

 Set aside time, every day to get to know Father God better.  Sit and listen for His voice. Get to know His presence. Have personal knowledge and relationship with God.

   This will unlock all the promises in Psalm 91, and much more, will become yours. It will not matter what happens, good or bad, for you will be hidden in God’s presence and protection.

 

 

©COPYRIGHT 2012 RICHARD SPANGLER

 

 

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Who is Obed-Edom?

       By Richard Spangler


  Who is Obed-Edom? Why be like him? His choices and his life led to blessings for himself and his family. Let us, together, learn who Obed-Edom was and about his life.     

   Obed-Edom is first mentioned in the Bible, just after the death of Uzzah for touching the Ark of God. This happened during King David’s first attempt to move the Ark to Jerusalem. The Ark of God was placed in the home of Obed-Edom. He must have been a man of faith to allow something in his home; just after God had killed someone for touching it (this broke one of the commands of the Lord concerning the Ark). The ark of God remained with Obed-Edom for three months, and the Lord blessed his household and everything he owned.     
   When it came time to move the Ark to Jerusalem, (this time correctly) Obed-Edom had a choice. He could have stayed where he was and lived off of his past relationship with God or move with the Ark of God, staying in God’s presence and in relationship with God.     
  
  Obed-Edom had a desire for the Lord and moved with God. His desire for the Lord caused him to do whatever it took to be close to the Lord. He became a gatekeeper, a musician, and a doorkeeper for the Ark. Due to Obed-Edom’s desire and love for the Lord and his faithfulness, God begins again to bless him and promote him.     

  Obed-Edom becomes a worship leader and is mentioned along with Aspah the Chief Musician. Obed-Edom and his 68 associates minister regularly before the Lord in worship. Yet, he still continues to keep the gates.     

  Obed-Edom is not only blessed in ministry and relationship with the Lord, his family is also blessed. God gives him eight sons, his poor wife raising a football team. His sons and grandsons also worshiped the Lord and were blessed by the Lord. They were all leaders, capable men, with strength to do the work. There were 62 men in all. Obed-Edom along with his other duties was put in charge of the Southgate and his sons were keepers of the storehouse.     

  Obed-Edom by his faith, attitude, and actions created a legacy of faith, and relationship with the Lord. The Lord was faithful back to Obed-Edom establishing a legacy of generational blessings.    

Obed-Edom had to pack up and physically move to stay in the presence of God. His desire for a relationship with God established a relationship not only for himself but also for his children and grandchildren. This relationship also established generational blessings from God for his family.     

  Today, we don’t have to travel to a specific place to know the presence of the Lord or to have a relationship with the Lord. We, as believers all have the Holy Spirit within us. But, it is up to each of us to stir up the desire to seek out our own relationship with God, Our Father. The Father desires for us to have a relationship with him. He waits patiently for His sons and daughters to seek him out and have an individual relationship with Him.      

  We can have this relationship with the Father by first, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, we will be filled (Mt. 5:6). We must work to keep our hearts pure and we will see God. We must seek first the Kingdom of God and Its righteousness (Mt. 6:37).      

  Our Father is crying out by His Spirit within us, for each of us to stir up our desire for Him. He wants us to be passionate for Him, to get hungry and thirsty for Him. When you are hungry and thirsty for something, you do what it takes to be satisfied.    

  The first step is to keep a pure heart… Unconfessed sin is a relationship and a blessing stopper with God. Keep short accounts with the Lord by following 1 John 1:9 and by keeping short accounts with others. No choice here. If you have done wrong, go to the person, confess it, ask for forgiveness and make it right. If you know some one has something against you, go to them, and don’t wait for them to come to you. Make it right. Be careful what you watch on T.V., listen to the radio, and what comes in over the Internet, enough said.     

  Second, study the Word of God, and mediate on it daily. Mediation is not mystical or hard. If you can worry, you can mediate. We all do a great job worrying. We take an issue and keep thinking the worst that can happen over and over again. Mediation is thinking about a particular scripture or the goodness of God, over and over again.

This is simple but it works, and the more you do it the easier it gets. Putting on worship music helps with mediation and will bring the Presence of God.  

  A third step is just relax and rest in the Presence of God. We think that we must be doing something all the time for God. Relaxing and resting in God’s Presence is extremely important. It is in these times that we can clearly hear from the Lord. A Web site that can help with this www.soaking.net.     

Finally, get up and get moving. Get involved in your church and/or your community. Obed-Edom did not wait for the Lord to tell him to do something, he just did it. He waited on the Lord by doing. You will find as you are doing the work of the ministry, God will give you direction in what to do.     

  So be an Obed-Edom, have a desire for God. Keep your heart pure. Study and mediate on the Lord, and relax and rest in God’s presence. Get up and get involved. By doing these things, you will have a relationship with God, and He will bless you and your family and create blessings for you and generational blessings for your family.

Scripture References for Obed-Edom: 1 Chronicles Chapters 13:12-14, 15:18, 21, 24, 16:38, 26:4-6, 12-15.

©COPYRIGHT 2009 RICHARD SPANGLER



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Who Are You Part 4

By Richard L Spangler

    We are God’s children.  Ephesians 2:6 (AMP) ⁶And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

   Romans 8:14-16 Amplified Bible (AMP) ¹⁴For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.¹⁵For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father! ¹⁶The Spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God.
 
  Galatians 4:5-7Amplified Bible (AMP) ⁵To purchase the freedom of (to ransom, to redeem, to atone for) those who were subject to the Law, that we might be adopted and have sonship conferred upon us [and be recognized as God's sons].⁶And because you [really] are [His] sons, God has sent the [Holy] Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba (Father)! Father! ⁷Therefore, you are no longer a slave (bond servant) but a son; and if a son, then [it follows that you are] an heir by the aid of God, through Christ.

 These verses plus many more show us that we are God’s Family. We are His sons and daughters. This is who we are. We have full and unrestricted access to the Father. This is a powerful relationship. We can enter God’s presence any time we want and just the Throne Room (a place of petitions) but we have the run of the house. 

   We can go into all the rooms of the house. The great thing is there will always be more and more rooms to explore, for our Father has a big house, bigger than we can imagine. We can roam the gardens; play in the Pools of Life created by the River of Life. We roam the various mountain ranges of the kingdom and eat of the never ending supply of food, which is there for us to enjoy.

   Best of all is spending time with the Father. God desires us to spend time with him and He smiles when we come through the door and ask to be with Him. This was the purpose of creation, that God would have a family and that we, by our own free will would choose to love him and to spend time with him. This above all else is why mankind was created. He created us in his image for this purpose so we could enjoy each other forever. One of the great and wonderful mysteries of this is, it is always one on one, just you and the Father and it can be the same for every person in the universe at the same time, if they desire it.

   We must also remember that our Father, is the LORD GOD, THE CREATOR, THE ALL POWERFUL KING OF ALL, who is from everlasting to everlasting. We must honor and worship Him as such.

   As we realize this relationship of being a child of God, everything we do, being a servant, a king, a priest, and friend all flow out of this relationship. We operate in the various positions in the kingdom with the proper attitude of love. We don’t do things because we have to; we do them because we want to, out of our love for our Father. This loving relationship between us, as children with God our Father opens the door for a revelations and experiences beyond what we can ever imagine.

   So begin to think of yourself and see yourself as God our Father sees you, as His child whom He loves and wants to spend time with. Who He wants to share with all that has with you. He wants to reveal himself to you. Then you will have a life to full and overflowing and you can answer the question, “Who are You?”

                        ©COPYRIGHT 2012 RICHARD L SPANGLER

 

 

 

 

An excerpt from my book, ADVENTURES IN THE SPIRIT A Series of Prophetic Visions….I am sitting on the river bank, still wearing the Armor of God, rejoicing and praising God for the day’s victory. Suddenly, the Glory of God falls on me and lifts me up higher and higher until I find myself standing at the entrance to the Throne Room of God. The massive doors are open and looking up, the entrance appears to be several miles high and glow with the Glory of God. I hear the voices of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit calling me to enter….

Available at: http://www.amazon.com/ADVENTURES-SPIRIT-Series-Prophetic-Visions/dp/1470193396

Who Are You Part 3

By Richard L Spangler

  In part 1 of Who Are You, we looked at the servant. In part 2 we looked at the kings and priest. All of these have varying degrees of relationship with God.

 The next level of relationship is that of friend.  A friend as defined by Webster’s Dictionary is: 1a: one attached to another by affection or esteem b: acquaintance  2 a: one that is not hostile b: one that is of the same nation, party, or group 3: one that favors or promotes something (as a charity) 4: a favored companion

Enoch was one such person in Genesis 5:22-24Amplified Bible (AMP) ²²Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God after the birth of Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.²³So all the days of Enoch were 365 years.²⁴And Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God; and he was not, for God took him [home with Him].This is an amazing friendship with God. This same type of relationship is mentioned of Noah in Genesis 6:8-9.

   In Genesis 18:3 Abraham refers to himself as a servant but God calls Abraham his friend in Genesis 18:17. This shown by the discussion that follows a friend is allowed debate a decision and servant is not.

 Jesus speaks of friendship and the difference between friends and servants in John 15:15 I do not call you servants (slaves) any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing (working out). But I have called you My friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father. [I have revealed to you everything that I have learned from Him.]

A friend has a closer relationship than a servant, a priest or king, but a friend can be any of these as well. But there are limits in the relationship of a friend and access to the house. There are parts of a house that are for the family and for the family only. The good news is we are in family of God.

 We will look at Family of God in the 4^th and final part of this series coming soon.

 

©COPYRIGHT 2012 RICHARD L SPANGLER

WHO ARE YOU? PART 1

By Richard Spangler

   The question, “Who are you?” plagues many a person, including many Christian. Who you are is at the very core of your existence. Most people go through life thinking what they do is who they are. They themselves as a mailman, doctor, mother, father, minister and the list goes on. Those who think of themselves as only what they do have a crisis every time what they do changes. The man or women who spends a lifetime building their career and identity is wrapped up in that career have a major problems when they have to retire or are no longer have that career path available to them. So where do we go to find out who we are? Where do we go to “find ourselves”.

   The best place to find out who we are is God and the Bible. Who does God said you are? Let’s look and find out.The first thing we see is the servant according to Webster’s is: one that serves others <a public servant>; especially: one that performs duties about the person or home of a master or personal employer. Abram uses the first reference of servant in relationship to God. This now Abram saw himself in relationship to God. In Genesis 18:3 (AMP) And said, My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant, I beg of you.

   A servant is one who goes and does what the master tells him to do. A servant does things whether they want to or not. They do what they are told. Their relationship with the master is to do or be punished. There may develop a love for their master (if he is a good person), but the relationship is overshadowed by having to please the master or be punished. If the servant wants something from the master, he must beg for it and may have to extras for the master, who may or may not grant their request.

   This is true of many Christians, we see ourselves only as servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. We go and do as the Holy Spirit tells us. Many believers never get beyond the servant level of relationship with God. We limit ourselves to the servant, as did Abram. We try to please God into granting us His blessings. The servant attitude prevails: I have to pray more, fast more, read more, memorize more and do more to get God’s favor so He will bless us with finances, health, healing, deliverance and anything else we might ask.

  This can lead us down the road of legalism, of having to do to get. Unfortunately, this attitude and relationship with God has been taught, by many church leaders as “The Relationship with God” and in order to serve God we must serve them without question, as a good servant.

   I am not saying that a servant of the Lord does not love God because he or she does. But, the mentality of the servant position colors everything about our relationship with God. Notice that I said, “Servant position” for it is not who we are in Christ. It is what we do out of our love for God. God stated later in Genesis 18 that He saw Abram as more than a servant, and He sees us as much more than a servant, but more about that later.

 

 

 

 

©COPYRIGHT 2012 RICHARD SPANGLER

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Unnatural Natural

Richard L. Spangler

   A few years ago I lost three family members in three months, my youngest brother Sidney on December 23, 2009, my brother Jon (a year younger than me) on March 2, 2010 and my mother-in-law Eloise March 21, 2010. To say the least I was reeling under the weight of grief. I cried out to the Lord, “Help, I need something to get me through this.”

   I heard the Lord say, “You are dealing with an unnatural natural.” To that I replied, “Lord I don’t need riddles I need an answer.” (Thank God He loves me and is patience with me.)

 At this point, I heard again, “You are dealing with an unnatural natural.” It was then I began to think about what was being said. Death is a natural part of our physical existence. Everything in the physical universe eventually dies but our spirits are eternal. We live forever.

   This then is the conflict we experience in dealing with the death a love one, a friend or a pet. Our spirits realize that this is not natural; we are not suppose to die, we were created to live forever by God. We were never meant to experience separation from God, our family, and friends and even our pets. Remember, before the fall of man there was no death in the universe so animals were eternal also. When man sinned, he brought death into the entire universe.

 God put eternity in our hearts, Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NKJV)
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He Has put eternity in their hearts,.

   This makes death hard for us to deal with, whether sudden or a prolonged illness before death, it is still unnatural to our spirits.  Our spirits are screaming from deep inside us, “This is not right! This is not supposed to happen! ” Yet it does.The unnatural separation occurs and we are left with a sense of lost and aloneness. It does not matter what people say or what we know, we still feel the unnaturalness of the loss and the grief that goes with it.

 Thank God, that He gives each of us  time to come to terms with this unnatural event.  The Bible says, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3 NKJV).

   Jesus quotes the Prophet Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound” (Luke 4:18 NKJV). 
  God is here with us. He holds hand, wraps us in His loving arms and will even pick us up and carry us through the valley of death. He also lets us know that for the believer this separation is temporary, “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord(1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 NKJV).
 
   Even in the darkness hours of our lives, there is hope for us that believe in Jesus Christ. We know that the unnatural separation of death is only temporary and we will again be with our love ones and friends, if they have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord and received forgiveness from sin.
   Those that do not know Christ do not have this hope, They only the darkness of confusion and grief caused the unnatural separation of death.  If you want this hope, please pray this prayer: 
   Dear Lord Jesus,
  I know that I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins and rose from the grave to give me life. I know You are the only way to God. So now I want to quit disobeying You and start living for You. Please forgive me, change my life and show me how to know You.
  In Jesus' name. Amen. 
 
  Contact me,directly or call the CBN Prayer Center 1-800-759-0700 and talk with a Prayer Partner, let them know you prayed this prayer on this blog and ask them for the New Day. Then, once you know Christ, ask Him to save your family and friends. He will use you to lead them to Him.

©COPYRIGHT 2012 RICHARD L SPANGLER