Monday, February 10, 2014
Lion's Voice Ministries: The Unnatural Natural
Lion's Voice Ministries: 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, m...
The Unnatural Natural
Richard L. Spangler
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.He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He Has put eternity in their hearts,.
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
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Lion's Voice Ministries: THE FLOOD AND THE FIRE
Lion's Voice Ministries: THE FLOOD AND THE FIRE: By Richard L Spangler I began seeking the Lord for a word for 2014. I heard in my spirit, “A Flood.” Then I asked the Lord, “Wh...
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Here We Stand
By Richard L
Spangler
We are standing at a crossroads as a church,
a nation and the world. We all have been
hearing this from various sources both spiritual and secular. The nation is
divided in a 50/50 spilt politically; we have economic problems here and in the
world. We are in moral decay, we are told what is right is wrong and what is
wrong is right. We are under spiritual attack from those who want to remove God
from our nation. There are others who would force us to submit to their beliefs
and reject Jesus Christ. Yet, we are told to be politically correct in our
thoughts and speech. Some have been moved to action by the Holy Spirit, CBN’s
50 Days of Prayer and America for Jesus are the most recent calls for prayer
for our nation. But, the Holy Spirit kept urging me that there was more to do
than gather in one place or in our homes and churches and pray. We can take
action as individual believers. We can change the course of our communities,
our nation and the world by answering the call of God.
Abram was
commanded as part of the covenant with God to look and see the land the Lord
had given him and he was also told to walk the land. This served a two-fold
purpose: first was Abram could see more and more as he walked and secondly as
he walked the land God said wherever he walked was his land. Genesis 13:17(AMP) Arise, walk through the land, the length of it and the breadth of
it, for I will give it to you.Then in Ephesians we read that we are to put on the Whole Armor of God and to stand, holding your ground. Ephesians 6:14 (AMP) Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God,(Boldness added for emphasis)
So there are two things that need to happen first to see the land and walk it, then the other is to hold your ground. Sadly, the church has not been doing either of these things. We hunker down behind the four walls of our church buildings and homes and prayer closets and pray for our land. We pray with an expectation that God will do all the work and take back our nation for us. This is a lie of the enemy, he wants us just to sit back and pray. The devil knows that God has chosen His people to take dominion over our communities, states and nations. So long as there no action with our prayers then devil doesn’t have to worry.
This then is a call to action by the Holy Spirit, to get out of the four walls of churches and homes, to come out of our closets and take action. First get a friend, (Jesus sent the disciples out two by two), and go to a street corner in your city (ask the Holy Spirit which street corner He will tell you). Second, look around you and see the land the Lord has given you. Third, begin to thank and praise God for the land he has given you. Fourth, pray for the land and the people in it. Praying that the people will come to know Christ and His love (no prayers of condemnation or judgment) and for God to heal the land. Fifth, rebuke the devil.
If, someone comes up ask what you are doing, tell them you are praying for your community and the nation and invite them to joint you. If they say, “yes” let them joint if they say, “no” ask them if you can pray for them. If you find yourselves with two or more jointing you , then you or your partner take one of them and move to another corner nearby and begin to pray. In this way, you have walked your land and have stood your ground and God will give you the land.
A closing note, please stay on public property and do not block a sidewalk. This is not a time for a show or a display of religious exercises, do it in humble matter, but with the power and authority of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
©COPYRIGHT 2012 RICHARD SPANGLER
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Forgive, How Much?
By Richard L.
Spangler
People ask, “How many times must I
forgive this person?” Or, “I can’t forgive what they did to me.” And, “I want God to judge this person.” These
same people have financial and other troubles, wondering why God is not
blessing them. Some also have relationship issues with their family and others.
I have
personally dealt with people that were hard to forgive. Once I was given the
responsibility of running a shop and yard crew for the water department. I
worked with men, most of whom were much older than myself. There was
this guy I will call Frank, who would ride my case from the time I walked in
the gate until I left. Frank would curse constantly, put open men’s magazines
on my desk, and relocate my Bible and my lunch. There were
times I felt like getting revenge on him, but I didn’t. I continued to pray for
him, asking God to save him, and to help me forgive him. This situation
continued for months.
Then one
day, Frank came into my office. I feared the worse, but to my surprise, he
broke down. Frank’s life was a mess and he needed someone to talk to. He asked
me to forgive him. I told him I already had and was willing to listen and help.
After that,
a good working relationship developed. Frank would still slip up with the
language, but would quickly ask my forgiveness. This was my first lesson in
forgiving someone who continually sinned against me, so I understand how
difficult forgiving can be. The question arises, how much to forgive
someone? We can thank the Apostle Peter for the answer.
“Then Peter came to Him and said, Lord, how
often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?
Jesus said to him, I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:21-22 NKJV).If we analyze these figures, it is amazing. Jesus says to forgive 70 times 7, which is 490 times a day! Then when you divide 490 by 24 hours in a day it means 20.4 times an hour. Then you divide 60 minutes in hour by 20.4 and you get 2.9 minutes. So we are to forgive someone who sins against us every 2.9 minutes!
This is a lifestyle of forgiveness. It does not matter what someone does to you or how many times they may sin against you, you are to forgive. It is almost impossible for someone to reach this volume of sinning against another. If you’re counting, are you really forgiving?
But, what about if they are breaking the law, you may ask? If they break a law of man they still have to pay the consequences and if they haven’t accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord, then they are under the judgment of God’s law, so we must leave the judging to Him.
Forgiveness is for you, not them. Unforgiveness blocks our relationship with God and leads to bitterness. Both unforgiveness and bitterness not only take their toll on you spiritually but also physically, opening the door to sickness and death. They also poison every relationship you have.
Unforgiveness also affects the blessings you receive from God.
“Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:32-38 NKJV).
What caught my attention is that most of this scripture deals with our relationship with others, then comes this one statement by Jesus on giving at the end. We are to love our enemies. We are to forgive unconditionally. We are to show mercy as God has shown mercy to us. Don’t condemn or judge and finally, forgive. Forgiveness jumps out as the key to the other blessings.
So forgive, for your own sake. Then, you will have an open, unhindered relationship with God and others. When you pray for the blessings of God, they will flow to you in a far greater way than you can imagine.
©COPYRIGHT 2012 RICHARD L SPANGLER
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