A Horse Called Hope

By Richard L Spangler

 Those of us who watched the Superbowl 2013, remember the advertisement with Clydesdale foal. The story was about a man who raised a foal. He bottle-fed it, slept with the foal when it became sick, and played with and trained it. The man and the horse (foal) bonded. Then one day a company truck came and took the horse away. The man missed his companion. Three years later the man goes to a parade and the Clydesdales go by. The horse sees the man and as soon as he is free of the carriage, charges off and the man and his horse are reunited. The company asked people to help name the foal seen in the first part of the commercial. Well after more than 60,000 tweets, and Facebook comments “Hope” was one of the most popular names, so the horse is named Hope. I had a realization that people are looking for hope. This was the heart cry of those who submitted the name “Hope” whether they realize it or not.

  The Constant drumbeat of the negativity is tearing the individual down. People are losing or have lost hope. We see this in the “I don’t care”, “What’s the use”, “Nothing will ever change” attitudes gripping our world today. People are giving up, losing faith and losing hope. They are killing themselves and their families and others because they see no hope for the future.

   We as believers can be no different. We also can lose hope. I have lost hope from time to time. There have been times in my life when the circumstances of life have cause me to say, “What the use? I give up.” Nothing going to change.” and “yes” I have prayed, “Lord, take me home.”  This has occurred in my life when I lost sight of God and I let the circumstances I found myself draw me away from my relationship with God. 

    But, there is hope! The Bible states, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13(NIV)

    God is a God of hope, He wants each of us hope in Him. Many say, “I have been lied to so many times. Promises have not been kept. Why should I hope? Why should I believe?” God is not human and does not lie, He keeps His promises. “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” Numbers 23:19 (NIV) and “In the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,” Titus 1:2 (NIV).

   We as believers must continue to place our hope in God, Our Father, in spite of the circumstances we see around us. This is not always easy, but we must set our minds and hearts on Him. If you trust His time table and that God loves you and knows what you are going through and will keep His promises. He will restore your hope.   

  What about those who live in the world do not know these truths. They do not understand that God loves them, that He is Hope and that He keeps His promises. We, as believers know these truths and we have the responsibility to tell those who are hopeless, there is hope. We must be willing, in these times to stand up and say, “There is a hope and that hope is in Jesus Christ.” This hope is not just for the sweet by and by or when we all get to heaven but it is for the nasty here and now. God is Hope and He is willing to give Himself to you if you are willing to receive Him.

  If you are looking for hope, and want to know how to find it, you contact the 700 Club Prayer Line at 1-800-759-0700.

 

 

©COPYRIGHT 2013 RICHARD SPANGLER

 

 

 

 

 

Transformational Experiences

By Richard L Spangler

    A God given experience is just an experience, if we do not allow it to translate into a life transforming experience. God gives us these experiences to transform our lives. When we allow this to happen these experiences become transformational experiences.

   In Ex.24:9-11, the 70 elders of Israel, Aaron, Nabub, Abihu, Moses, and Joshua saw God and they ate and drank with Him. The Bible also states that God did not kill them (which is a good thing). This was a fantastic experience for them. This experience should have been a life transformational experience for them. Sadly, it did not transform the lives of the 70 elders, Nabub, Abihu, and not even Aaron.

We know that when we read Ex.32:1-4, the people asked for a god of gold and a golden calf to be made for them to worship. None of these men stood up to oppose the people, to keep them from sinning. The experience on Mt. Sinai was given by God to transform these men into true leaders, not just men with titles.

  But before we harshly judge these men, we must remember, it is as true for us today as it was for them. God gives us potentially, transformational experiences and we at times, do not allow those experiences to transform us.

We walk away, come from the mountain as it were, thinking that was a great experience and immediately start thinking, ”What’s for lunch? Or what’s so and so doing after church?”

Some Christians become experience junkies. These are people who move from one God experience to the next, always looking for bigger and better experiences. They get that first rush or the high of the experience, but they soon crash, having no real satisfaction.

They do not allow these God experiences to transform them into the Lord’s image. They do not allow themselves to be transformed -- to be drawn to closer to the Lord and to do the work of the ministry that they have been called to do. This is where we all find true satisfaction in the Lord.

We all need to allow these experiences to transform us. We do this by asking the Lord, “What is the specific purpose for us having the experience?" Then, we need to mediate on that purpose. Finally, we must ask the Lord to help us and allow the transformation to take place in our lives.

The Lord Jesus has chosen each of us to be His people and He wants to transform us into a royal priesthood, a Holy Nation that will transform the world in His name.

© COPYRIGHT 2007 RICHARD SSPANGLER

 

An excerpt from the book ADVENTURES IN THE SPIRIT A Series of Prophetic Visions by Richard L Spangler…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….This Book available on Amazon.com

 

 

 

 

My Quest

By Richard L. Spangler

    My quest for a deeper relationship began out of a simple prayer: “Lord show me your heart.”This prayer came out of a study of King David and that the Bible stated, “David was a man after God’s own heart.” I mediated on this phrase, and came to the conclusion that for David to be a man after God’s own heart, David had to have an encounter with God that caused him to know something about the heart of God. So, I started calling out to the Lord, “show me your heart.” I prayed this short prayer for six months, little did I realize when and how God would answer and how it would change my life.

  I had the preconceived idea, that God would reveal his heart to me in a church service or in my personal time with him. The way He did show me was opposite of both, not in church and in a very public place.

  I was driving a trolley for the local public transit company along the oceanfront of Virginia Beach, Virginia on a July 4, 1991. It was a hot, humid afternoon and I was driving a not air conditioned, full loaded trolley along Atlantic Ave. The police stopped the trolley to allow a large crowd of people to cross the street, when I heard the Lord say, “Son, I will show you my heart.” I thought great and thank you Father. As I was watching the mass of people crossing in front of me, suddenly a veil parted and I could see everything about every person crossing in front of me. I could see their worries, their hurts and pains, their sickness and the deceptions of the devil in their lives and their sins. I groaned out loud under the weight of what I was seeing.

  One of the passengers asked me. “Driver are you O.K?”

 I responded, “I was alright.”

What else could I say; I couldn’t tell him what I was experiencing.

Then I heard the Lord say, “Now I am going to show my love for them.”

I immediately felt the love of the Father for these people and mixed with the love was a overwhelming sorrow for the pain they were in and the sin that was destroying His children. I wanted to reach out and hug each one, and to the tell them, “It’s alright, the Father loves them and wants to help them and that I loved them too.”

Again I let a groan, due to the power of the Love of God flowing in me and through me.

  At this point several passengers asked, “Driver, are you sure your O.K.? Do you help?” The compassion they were expressing added to flow of God’s love I was experiencing.

  I again stated, “I’m O.K.”

   Mercifully, the police officer signaled for me move and I continued down Atlantic Ave. discharging passengers until I reached the end of Atlantic Ave at Rudee Inlet, where the trolleys were lined up to start their northbound run up Atlantic Ave. 

  During this entire time I was awash in God’s love for everyone I could see. It felt as if my whole body was going explode with love. I asked a supervisor, that was there releasing the trolleys to start the north bound runs, it I could have a break. He said, “Yes.”

  I headed over to the boardwalk and quickly walked  from 1^st street to fifth street and back praying, “Please Father, take this from I cannot bear the weight of your love any longer.”

The sensation of the flow of God’s love slowly lifted. Then, I heard the Lord say, “You have not scratched the surface of my heart of love for you and mankind.”

 As I walked back to my trolley, I knew I was a changed man.

  Before that encounter with the Heart of God, I knew about God’s love and had what I thought was a good understanding of it but the experience of His love caused me to realize how wrong I was. Over the next few days and weeks I found myself having more compassion and love for people than I ever had before. Thank God, the love and compassion that He deposited in me during that experience has continued and has expanded in me over the years.

 I pray, that the love of God will continue expanded in me and expand me and pray for you that you will also experience God’s love in a way that will transform your life the way it has mine. Just ask for it, the Father is waiting to share His love with you.

©COPYRIGHT 2013 RICHARD L SPANGLER

 

The Unnatural Nautral

Special Note: This is a reprint of my earlier

post,"THE UNNATURAL NATURAL" This reprint is

done at the urging of the Holy Spirit for all those

effected by the event in  Newtown, Connecticut 

Sandy Hook Elementary School. I pray this

article helps.

 

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 I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness. I believe 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 foegive me, change my life and show mw how to know You. In Jesus' Name Amen.

Contact me or call the CBN Prayer Center 1-800-759-0700 and talk with a Prayer Partner let them know you prayed this prayer 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.

 

P.S. If you need help in dealing with grief also contact the CBN Prayer Center or myself. Praying for us all. Richard

                 ©COPYRIGHT 2012 RICHARD L SPANGLER

 

 

 

 

Craving God

^{CRAVING GOD}

^{Richard L Spangler}

   ^{Recently I had a craving for some of my homemade chili but it was still in the 80’s outside, and not the weather for chili. My wife couldn’t believe I was cooking chili on such a warm day. But, when you have a craving for something it does not matter, it’s the only thing that will satisfy you. At about the same time, I felt a strong urging of the Holy Spirit to revisit 2 Chronicles 7:14. At this point I had not made the connection with the craving for chili and the urging to revisit an oft quoted verse of scripture.  You may ask, “What does craving chili on a warm day have to do with craving God?  Where are you going with this?”}

  ^{Many believers are wondering what happened to 2 Chronicles 7:14. Many believers pray, repent and yet ask, “Why isn’t our land healed?”}

   ^{Our nation is divided. The same balance of power between remains and the nation is in an almost 50/50 split. The economy is still in trouble, with no clear solutions.  So what happened?}

  ^{First, I believe many prayed their political beliefs, believing that God could only be on their side. Joshua learned in Joshua 5:13-15, that Lord is on neither side. We therefore need to make sure we are on the Lord’s side, not a particular political party. The leaders of both political are guilty of giving lip service to God when it is good for them to do so. God knows it and so should we.}

   ^{Second, and most importantly we missed a key part of the scripture in 2 Chronicle 7:14 and that is to ‘seek my face”. To get a better understanding of this phrase, I looked at several different translations. They all said the same way except the Amplified.}

^{2 Chronicles 7:14 in the Amplified: “If My people, who are called My name shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My Face and turn from their wicked ways then will I hear from Heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.”}  

 ^{The word crave stands out in a powerful way to me. According to Webster’s Dictionary crave is defined as, to ask for earnestly: beg, demand. to want greatly: need, to yearn for: to have a strong or inward desire} 

 Some Synonyms:ACHE (FOR), COVET,DESIRE,HUNGER (FOR),LONG(FOR),LUST (FOR OR AFTER),THRIST(FOR)

 Then the verse says, “and require of necessity” again using Webster’s Dictionary: Require means: a: to claim or ask for by right and authority b: to demand as necessary or essential. Necessity means: the state of being in need: requirement, an urgent need.

So here we have God saying that we need to beg, and demand with a strong inward desire for His face. We are to ask for by the right and authority he gives us as his people.

  The church as a whole is not craving God, we are not seeking Him. Many have taken on the attitude of, “What I have in God is good enough.” or “The next move of God is coming and all I have to do is wait on it.” There is no drive, no passion, no craving to know God in an intimate relationship, let alone to seek His face.

Every great move of God started with God’s people seeking to know him more. We need to go beyond just seeking God, and to crave Him.  We must get to the point in our life where nothing else will satisfy us. Many talk about this but very few actually do this.

  This means making our relationship with God our number one priority. Make the sacrifice, turn off the computer, the I-Pad, TV and dare I say it, the cell phone. We need to stir ourselves up, until nothing else with satisfy us, making our face to face relationship with Him essential to our very existence. We need to beg, and demand as our right, as children of God, to see our Father face to face. 

  Some may say that we cannot ask or enter into God presence in such a matter. But the Word of God says we can. In Hebrews 4:14-16 we can enter fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near the Throne of God (AMP). The Message Bible puts it this way: "So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give,Take the mercy,accept the help."

 

The good news is God wants and desires this type of relationship with his children. God created man to be in relationship with Him. Adam and Eve had such a wonderful relationship with God that they knew the sound of his walking. Abraham had a relationship where could not talk to God but could reason with him face to face. Moses had face to face talks with God at the Tent of Meeting in the wilderness. The Apostle Paul received a personal teaching from the Lord. The Apostle John in Revelation saw the Lord.  

    You too can have this type of face to face with the Lord but you must crave it above anything else. It is when the children of God, crave his face that God will hear from heaven and heal their land.

 What does craving chili have to do with craving God? Nothing except that God used it to stir me to write about craving a face to face relationship with Him. I may never look at a bowl of chili the same way again. By the way the chili was great.

 

©COPYRIGHT 2012 RICHARD L SPANGLER