God holds back time

I checked my cell phone and it was eleven minutes to nine! I was amazed at how He had moved and held back  time.

This morning as I was getting ready for work, a brother came to my mind that I know and had originally met on the bus going to work. The last time I saw him on the bus he had shared with me how his girl friend had broken up with him. So since that time we have talked on the phone a couple of times. However, today I sensed that I needed to see him face to face.

I usually take the bus right before the one that he is on. This is because it is Monday morning and usually very busy with lots of stops between home and work. I don’t like to cut it very close because of the chance of being late at work. Thus this is why I usually take the earlier one. But today was different. God was asking me to trust Him. Because my motive was right, I believed I could trust him to get me there on time.

The bus finally came as myself and others were waiting. It was running a little late, but I didn’t let it bother me. After all, I was trusting the Lord to provide. I got on and looked around as I walked to the back of the bus. My brother was no where to be found. I sat down and glanced up towards the front to make sure that I didn’t miss him. He was not on the bus. Great, I thought to myself. I really had this one right, didn’t I. Well, I didn’t let it get to me and looked around to see others that were on the bus. Soon conversations developed and God was moving. OK, now this is good, I thought.

After a few minutes had passed and a few stops, I pulled out my cell phone to checked the time. It was 8:31am. We were only a quarter of the way to work and all these stops were taking place. I was temped to doubt, but still believing that He could get me there on time.

The lady across from me was really starting to come alive with the Spirit. She had received one of my tracts and was commenting about it. Soon we were engaged in an awesome time on in the back of the bus. (This is why ministering on the bus can be so cool. Other people get to listen and sometimes join in. It’s a community affair whiter they like it or not. Church on the bus is some of the best kind! See my post -http://rjperalta.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/church-on-the-bus/

The bus stopped at my usual get off spot for work. As my feet hit the sidewalk, I pulled out my phone to check the time. It was eleven minutes till nine. I walked down to the light and pushed the knob and waited for the light to change. As I waited, there was another couple waiting there also. I said hello and gave them a tract. They both refused. I smiled and said, “God bless you”.

So far about two minutes had passed then the light changed and we crossed the street. Now, it’s a long walk from here to the time clock. To give you an idea, it’s down a long alley way, then across one big parking lot. This equals about eight city blocks. In all practicality, it would take about five to eight minutes at the normal rate of walking.

I walked at a fairly fast pace, because I knew I didn’t have a whole lot of time. The last time I had checked the time, I had eleven minutes to make it.

I approached the entrance and said hi to the greeter. He stopped me and wanted to talk. I knew I couldn’t be rude to him, but I was in a hurry. I listen to him for about a minute, and said I needed to go and punch in. We smiled at each other and off I went. Now, the time clock and the lockers are at the far other side of the building. This would take about two minutes walking at a good clip. It’s a “super store”. I met a guy one time that did his daily walking inside the store at night, that’s how big it is.

I approached the back hallway leading to the time clock. When I was about eight feet away from my locker, I pulled out my phone just to see how we did.

IT WAS ELEVEN MINUTES TILL NINE! I WAS AMAZED HOW HE HAD HELD BACK TIME!

Remember when I got off the bus, what time was it?  TEN MINUTES TILL!

WERE DID THE TIME GO?  In all practicality, I had used up 10 minutes of time from getting off the bus to the time clock.

I sighed as I put my phone back in my pocket. It was so surreal. I had once again experienced the super natural power of God. I opened up my locker and sensed such peace. I didn’t have to try and reason it out. GOD HAD PROVIDED! And that’s all that mattered.

I stood around visiting in the lunch room for ten minutes waiting till 9:00am. What I wonderful start of  a beautiful day!

This blesses me to share how God does provide for our every need. When we are doing His will, seeking Him and His Kingdom, He provides. That’s His promise. Not only that, but I love to encourage people to come into relationship with God through Christ, so they too can experiance the adventure in life. They can see God working right in the midst of where they are. With this relationship, life takes on meaning and purpose whatever and wherever you are.

God bless you as you go out for Him!

Which covenant are you under?

One covenant is from Mount Sinai, the other is from the New Jerusalem. Which one are you from? Which one do you follow?

Symbolic of these two covenants are the two son’s of Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael was born by a bondwoman named Hagar. Isaac was born by a freewoman named Sarah.

Ishmael was born after the flesh. Isaac was born by promise. In the Spirit, this makes all the difference in the world. The flesh verses the Spirit.

The Law given by Moses on Mt.Sinai is the old covenant which gives birth to bondage. Just as Hagar was the bondwoman, she is also symbolic of the bondage found in the old covenant. Many today still want to be under the bondage of the Law which is the old covenant. Man has always felt comfortable under bondage. There is something attractive that caters to the flesh. It requires no faith to live under bondage.

Hagar is symbolic of Mt.Sinai where God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses.

The “New Jerusalem” which is spiritual, is above all and is freedom. It is the mother of us all.

Those who have been “born of the spirit” answer to a new covenant from New Jerusalem, not Mt. Sinai. They experiance freedom in the Spirit. This is not a licence to sin, but by God’s grace they conquer sin. They strive to not live a life of sin and bondage.

Spiritually speaking, those who have been born of The Spirit and follow The Spirit, are the “children of promise”.

Just as Ishmael was born of the flesh, all those who stay under the old covenant bondage, they want to “persecute” those who have been “born according to the Spirit”.

“Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” It’s one or the other. Either you are under the old covenant bondage, or you are free in the Spirit of Christ. It just that simple.

So then, we should not be children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

(This lesson was taken from the book of Galatians, chapter 4. In the book of Galatians, Paul was addressing the Galatians that “blessings come from God on the basis of faith, not Law. The Law declares men guilty and imprisons them; faith sets men free to enjoy liberty in Christ. But liberty is not a license. Freedom in Christ means freedom to produce the fruits of righteousness through a Spirit-led life-style.”)

Street preachers, check this out!

I was surfing under the “witnessing” category today and found this. This is a must for street preachers. Check out the old fashioned picture. How about the people in the crowd? Awesome! Hope you are blessed like I was!

http://a-voice-crying-out.com/2010/01/21/bold-little-preacher/

God works through people!

This is all the more reason why we need to always be alert of the people around us.

My only reason for sharing stories like this, is that it might motivate the readers to be aware of people in their path.

God never ceases to amaze me, as to how he works through people. Today, after coming from the court house, I was led to make a visit through the local park in the downtown area where I live. After using the bathroom, I followed a walkway and noticed a man sitting on a bench. Our eyes caught each others from a distance. I walked up and said hello and handed him a tract. He smiled and said that he already knew him.

He asked me what I was up to, then I asked him. He said that he was waiting for some other brothers, and that they were going to go around the park and evangelize. He said that they have been meeting on Wednesday’s and doing this.

He asked me some more about what I do, and I clued him in. Then he stood up and asked me what he could pray for me about. I told him, then he started in and prayed. I really sensed the Holy Spirit working through his prayers. When he finished, I asked him the same, then prayed for him.

When we were finished praying, he turned to me and said, “have you been praying for a house?” My initial response was, “uh, I do believe that some day he will bless me with one”. I told him that I really haven’t been praying for one. THEN, IT DAWNED ON ME!

I told him, wait a minute! YES! THE LORD WAS GOING TO GIVE ME A HOUSE IN A DISTANT TOWN, AND THAT IT WAS GOING TO BE USE AS A  TRANSITIAL  HOME FOR GUYS FROM THE CITY TO COME AND LIVE IN THE COUNTRY FOR A PERIOD OF TIME.

WOW!  I have not been faithful in praying about this house. This past summer, the Lord led me to the town where this house is going to be. It was after He brought up the vision again through an encounter with a man who was caught in the trap of drugs and city life. (See my post )http://rjperalta.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/you-dont-understand-im-caught-in-a-trap/ 

So now it dawned on me. God has used this man to remind me of His faithfulness. You say that it was just a coincidence? How did this complete stranger know to say anything about a house? We weren’t having a “house” conversation prior to this. Nothing was mentioned about a house!

It was God once again moving through a person to get a message across. He does it all the time. It was a prophetic move of God. If I would have been, “petal to the metal” when I came out of that bathroom, I would have missed out! How often does this happen? How often are we too in a hurry? How often do we rush pass people?

The icing on the cake was, that after we had talked about the house, the other two brothers showed up and we had one awesome time of “church” in the park. We had prayer and then parted.

You can’t put a price tag on these kind of “God encounters”. As I always say, “nine times out of ten, God works through people!” Be on the look out!

Share this with your non-believing friends!

Exactly one year to the day after this massacre occurred, elephants went through their town and destroyed it.

This following true story is taken from a monthly newsletter from “Heaven’s Family”. I support this ministry because I know the man personally that started it. He and his family do not live in wealth. They do not skim off the top and live like kings on the earth. Every cent that you send in goes where you request that it goes. This is the real deal.

Their web-site is www.HeavensFamily.org

My you be blessed!

“The Elephants have become Christians”

“The Hindu villagers ran for their lives. Wild elephants, on a rampage, were storming into their community. Later, when the villagers felt it was safe to return from the forest’s fringe, they stood in shock. Their houses had been completely, apparently methodically, destroyed. Perhaps it was no coincidence. One year ago – to the day- these same Hindus had methodically destroyed the homes of nearby Christians. The word quickly spread: “The elephants have become Christians!”

“It was in the  latter part of 2008 when radical Hindu mobs went on rampages against Christians in India’s Orissa state. Their goal was to eradicate Christianity from all of India, starting with Orissa. The violence and persecution was widespread and severe.”

“One of the hardest hit districts was Kandhamal – attacked on August 23, 2008 – a key date to remember. Eighty-six Christians were martyred, and an untold number of women raped. About 5,200 Christian homes were destroyed. Almost three-hundred churches and Christian organizations were ransacked as believers ran for their lives into the dense forest. Fifty-thousand were made homeless in Kandhamal alone, though five other districts experienced the same persecution.”

“Exactly one year after the Kandhamal nightmare, the Hindu fanatics who persecuted the Body of Christ faced tribulation of their own. On August 23, 2009, fifteen elephants made an uncommon visit to the district and displayed some uncommon behavior. As if they were vehicles of God’s vengeance, the elephants used their huge bodies to bulldoze and trample house after house. Seven-hundred houses were destroyed before the massive animals withdrew to the wilderness. Astonishingly, about six-hundred and fifty of those homes belonged to the Hindu radicals who took part in the rampage against believers one year earlier. It is no surprise that many people believed that the elephants had become Christian”.

“In 2008, Heaven’s Family’s Christian Refugee Fund helped many who suffered in the Orissa attacks. Over a year later, however, many of our brothers and sisters still live in makeshift tents. Government officials have closed numerous relief camps, and are only offering assistance to Christians who convert to Hinduism. So far, however, none have.”

What an awesome testimony to the power of God! He said that “vengeance is mine” didn’t he?

One culture that appreciates Jesus

And that is the Hispanic culture. In my years of ministry, not once have a seen an Hispanic person refuse a tract or get nasty at me for talking about Jesus. Not once have I seen one who was disrespectful either.

I believe this is because they are raised in a country where most are brought up as Catholics. While this is just another religion with all it’s traditions and man made rules and doctrines, at least they teach Jesus. And along with that they respect Jesus and His teachings. That is a lot said compared to many other cultures such as Americans here in America who will go to extremes such as tearing up a tract, yelling at you, or even spitting in your face when it comes to Jesus.

Today, I had another opportunity to experiance this first hand. I was standing on this corner and noticed a young Hispanic man about 20 feet away from me. I went over to him, smiled and give him a Spanish tract. He spoke a little broken English, looked at it and thanked me. I noticed he immediately went into reading it as I returned back to my corner. He was waiting for a bus.

When he had finished, the bus was coming and he hurried over to me to say out loud, “Thank You!” I smiled and said, “You are welcome, God bless you!”

This is rare with most Americans out west here. Does our spoiled culture need a wake up call? I believe it does. God knows what it is going to take to wake America up.

Losing our life to gain it

Unusual concept isn’t it? It certainly isn’t what the world out there teaches.

Jesus said and taught, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mk.8:35)

This is some hard stuff! This is some hard teaching! It goes against our very being! When one starts this process of “losing their life”, it’s very likely that there will be times when they stand up and yell, “I want my life back!”  Such was the case of one who was very close to me. There will be times when we will be faced with the very decision of what shall I do, give up or not. In our natural man we don’t like giving up. We are naturally stubborn and we want our own way. This is very evident even at a very young age. Watch two year old babies sitting down on the floor with one toy. Or even if each has their own toy, what happens? That’s my toy!

When we are on this course, this path of abandonment, we will all be faced with times of real struggles. Now of course, if you haven’t been on the path yet than there is no real battle. We will look at this and scratch our heads and try and figure out what it is I am talking about.

You might say, I go to church every Sunday. Sometimes twice a week. If fact, I am on the worship team. I pray. I feed the homeless. While all these things are good and amiable, they are not “reckless abandonment”. This abandonment will always take the “road less traveled” than the masses.

The following quotes (in quotation marks) are from the book, “God in the flesh” by Dan Everts. Published by InterVarsity Press. Highly recommended.

“Not everyone is called to leave his or her vocation, of course”. Some are definitely called to do this and must obey this if they are to fulfill God’s intended plan and purpose while here on this earth.

“Our reckless abandonment should look as varied and unique as we are. leaving a fishing company,” (as did some of his disciples did). Some are definitely called to leave their business and follow Him.

Others it may be, “cracking open your prized alabaster jar of nard, walking into synagogues to preach about Jesus, caring for the poor in the name of Jesus rather than caring for our bank accounts in the name of leisure……”

“The call is always from Jesus and is as varied as we are. But the response is the thing. When we see Jesus clearly, our own cares melt away. And we will do whatever he says.”

The key is, “when we see Jesus clearly.” It’s going to take time alone with Him to see Him clearly. It’s not going to happen as we rush through this life and then put the brakes on only when Sunday morning arrives. Then the brakes are on for Jesus, but only for two hours then I am off and running again. If we only stop to see Him when the church doors are open, we’ve missed it all together.

It must be a daily spending time with Jesus. This is certainly not easy. Especially for those who have children and families to care for. But it still must be found. It is going to have to be cut out each day with determination and discipline. It going to be hard,but He has promised all that we need if we seek Him first.

As I look back on my walk with Him, there were times when I just didn’t want to “cut out” anything more. My walk consisted of “normality”, lack of desire and very little passion. We might have to cut out such things as TV, the computer, meetings in the evenings etc. For some it might even be “Monday night football.” God forbid!

This abandonment is personal, but must be done. As we seek Him out. He will reveal more to us as we go. It’s a process. He has a personal road map for us to follow, and it just might be vastly different than those we know. It could very well be the “road less traveled.”

My personal experiance has been one of many abandonments. Some could be classified as “reckless”. If having never had some of these experiences, I’m sure I would be one of those “comfortable Christians” not willing to step out by faith into the unknown. Not popular today by any stretch of the imagination, and certainly not taught.

However, I can truly say that it hasn’t been easy. It’s hard stuff, and it doesn’t appear to be getting any easier. But, I can truly say that through it all, I have experienced true joy and true satisfaction. A life submitted, a life lost to Him is worth it all.

True abandonment takes place when His will is done, not ours. When He shows us over a period of time what must go in our lives, then by His grace and strenght we leave to follow Him, words cannot express the joy that arrives in our obedience. Basically, it is true life when we pursue what we know that we have been created for. If we don’t know, then we must stop and find out.

Jesus did just this. He experienced life as the Father had purposed for him. He did the Father’s will. But it comes with a price tag. Jesus paid the ultimate price by giving his life a ransom for all. He is asking us to give our lives to Him. Our all to Him and follow Him. Will we do it? Are we doing it?

Are we losing our life for Him and His Kingdom? Once again, I am not talking about two hours on Sunday morning with a bible study thrown in. I am talking our whole lives!

May God bless you as you give your all to Him!

Question and Answer Day

One man said, “No. God left me.”

Every once in a while God will send me out with one question to ask people. Today was one of those days. The question was, “Is Jesus ruling and reining in your heart?”
So to give you a general idea of how it went out there on those streets, here are a few that I jotted down on my memo pad to share.

There were two men that I asked this question to on the train. The first one I just “cold turkey-ed” it to him.
“Hey brother, is Jesus ruling and reining in your heart?” His reply was, “No, but that sounds like something that my mother would say.”
Now, was this good that he heard this from someone else besides his mother? God knows.

The second man on the train that I asked this question to, was on another train headed in another direction. He also was “cold turkey-ed”. His reply was, “No! Because He left me.” I said, “Oh yeah.” Then I was prompted to say, “was there any people involved?” He said, “Yeah, several church people.” I assured him that God will never let us down, but people can and will. He said, “how well I know.”

This certainly is not an isolated case. Many people have left God because of people. And a lot of those have been “church people.” Whatever the case, I try and encouraged people that have had people let them down, to try and move beyond the people and develop a relationship with the One who will never let them down. Certainly forgiveness enters into the picture.

One man on the back of the bus said this in regards to the question. “I don’t appreciate someone preaching to me. I have my own beliefs.” I assured him that I was not “preaching” to him, but was only asking him a question. He went quite, and so did I.
Can God use this question as a “seed?” Can He take it from there? I believe He certainly can.

I have learned not to “press their buttons”. If someone doesn’t want to go further, they will let you know. And he did.

The Lord led me to a town that I haven’t been to in over a year. As I was walking down the sidewalk, I noticed a man standing in the doorway. We talked about the weather a little, then I asked him the question. His reply was, “Well, that is something that I don’t talk about.” I smiled and said, “you mean like, politics and religion?” He smiled and said, “you got it.” I assured him that it is certainly not about “religion”, it is about Jesus. He smiled and said, “have a good day”. I said, “you too, and God bless you”.

Another man was also standing in a doorway (it was raining pretty hard). His reply was, “I’m not into religion”. Again, I assured him that it was way more than that. Encouraged him regarding Jesus.

Now this next encounter somewhat blew me away.

As I was walking the other direction down the sidewalk, I came to an intersection and noticed a man bending over in the street cleaning out the steel grate that catches the debris so they don’t go down the drain and clog it up. He looked like the average person, not a typical city employee doing his job of cleaning out the grates.

So I stopped and complimented him as to what a good job he was doing. Come to find out he was a local business owner and he had been cleaning three of the four grates at this intersection. We spent time talking about his reason’s as to why he was doing it. He shared about his art gallery down the road that he and his wife owned. He even shared about his neighbor who was once a glass artist, now turned a car collector and restorer. All the time, I listen with great intensity. He was very interesting.

Then, after about 20 minutes, there came an opportunity to ask him “the question”. He turned to me and said, “well yes He is”. He said that his father was a “Presbyterian” minister when he was a kid. Now he is with the “Vineyard” church. Both of us shared about how it is way more than “church and religion”. He talked about doing good things from the heart.

Then he went into his testimony.

About three years ago, he was involved in an auto accident. He hit a tree head on, and climbed out the windshield and stayed conscious long enough to give his cell phone to a passer by to call 911 and his wife. He then died.

Later to learn that he was pronounced dead and died for twenty minutes. The morg was called and the whole works. Then the EMT was able to resesatate him, only to find out months later that he had brain damage. He was in a coma for three months.

Now what amazed me was that there was absolutely now indication of his brain being damaged. He assured me that there was, with such things as memory loss, pain etc.

I told him that he was a walking miracle. As if he had never heard that before. I was impressed to ask him if he ever has written down his testimony to share. He said that he was not able to write very well because of his injuries and that  he didn’t have the patience to sit on a computer. He had said that because of the accident, he was way more hyper than he had used to be.

I was not the first to encourage him to have his testimony written out. I told him that I would pray that God would sent someone into his life that would have the gifting to listen to him share it, then write it out. He again said that he didn’t know if he would have the patience for it. With God all things are possible, right?

His phone had rang twice during our 45 minute visit. He said that it was either his wife or mother in-law wondering where he was. About that time, his mother in-law drove around the corner and he waved. She was also involved in the art gallery.

I sensed it was time for us to part. He said, “hey do you have a business card or something?” I reached in my wallet and gave him a card. Who knows where God can take this. He does!

We shook hands and thank each other.

What a “Question and Answer day! Once again, God is all about people!

“Let my words be few”

I know this song is eight years old now, but I love it more today than ever. Why? Because I am more in love with Jesus now then ever before. I am thankful for the hardship I have experienced over the last year. It has caused me to love Him more. Praise Him!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12z4dvc2kjo

“Hear Him!”

Where do you spend most of your time in reading, studying and listening?

If our time is not found in Christ and getting back to reading and studying what He taught, then we are in trouble. It doesn’t make any difference how long we have been saved, we should still be looking at His commands and teachings and following them foremost above all. Studying His life to gain understanding about how to live.

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;”

(Heb.1:1-2)

Many today are following man. Man has lots of good things to say and teach, but he is not Christ.

Do you spend more time in reading books that are written by some men than you do in the Gospels? Do you spend more time in listening to some man’s sermons than letting the Spirit minister to you through the very words of Christ? Christ said himself, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (Jn.6:63)

Sure there are lot’s of popular Christian book authors out there, and we can gain some wisdom and understanding  by reading an occasional book now and then, but we must not “camp” there. We should take inventory of our time and devotion.

Do you spend more time reading the writings of Mark Driscoll, John Piper or Paul Washer? What about John MacArthur? These men are certainly good teachers, but not The Christ. Yes, called of God and used by God, but not The Christ. Mere Men.

Jesus was more than a man like us. He spoke the very words of God. (Jn.14:10, 24). If this be the case, shouldn’t we be found there? If His words are “spirit and life”, shouldn’t we be partaking in this “spirit and life”?

More importantly, if God said we should “hear him” don’t you think we should?

“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, Hear Him!” (Matt.17:5).

Not only are many putting man’s writings and teachings before Christ, but it would appear that they are building “tabernacles” for them just as Peter wanted to do for Elijah and Moses. Christ turned to them and said, “Hear Him!” Basically, don’t worship Elijah and Moses, hear my Son and worship Him.

Even Moses said 1451 years before Christ, “Him you shall hear.” (Deut.18″15)

Also what did God say to Moses? “I will raise up from  them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.” (vs.18)

So, the very words of Christ are what God has spoken to us in these last days. There is no need to take up with anything else. By the words of Christ and God’s Spirit, we have all we need. The problem is that many have become too sophisticated.

I will end with a quote by Don Everts (I think he hits it on the head).

“It’s hard to remain focused on Jesus because we have become too sophisticated. The Gospels are so simple and straightforward that we sort of graduate on to Paul (or I might add, Paul Washer, Driscoll or Piper) where the meaty theology lies.”

So it is.