Mary Lindow ~ The Messenger Podcast
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Episodes
Saturday Oct 15, 2022
Saturday Oct 15, 2022
By Mary Lindow through the Holy Spirit
Jeremiah was known as the 'weeping prophet’.
Some say he was called at the age of 17.
He was called to reprove a crumbling nation. The Israelite nation.
Unfortunately for them they didn’t listen to him. But during his day, people were so hardened by sin that they neither believed God nor feared him. They seem to find Jeremiah's constant warning of judgment overbearing and frankly, annoying.
It's the same with us now.
Those that hear our warning find us obnoxious!
But as believers we are supposed to follow God's instructions to warn a lost and dying world of upcoming judgment. Even though most are not listening, we still have to persevere in courageously speaking truth in order to rescue some from the terrible judgment that will inevitably come. If we are so easily discouraged at fighting the rude behavior of our peers what are we going to do, when we are confronted by demons?
The LORD rebukes Jeremiah for his impatience, in Jeremiah 12:5 saying,
“If you have raced with men on foot and they have tired you out, Then how can you compete with horses? If you fall down in a land of peace [where you feel secure], Then how will you do among the lions in the flooded jungle thicket beside the Jordan?”
If we are distraught when we can't make a car payment, what will we do when we lose our job?
If the footmen weary you what will the horses do?
If we are distressed at the terrorism going on overseas, what will we do when it’s in our own neighborhoods? Because it already is!
If the footmen weary you what will the horses do?
If we are overwhelmed with the work we have now, what will we do when a double or triple portion is required of us?
If the footmen weary you what will the horses do?
God is reminding Jeremiah (and us) that there is much more to be concerned about than what we’re complaining about .
There is something ahead of us in this season my friends that is of more concern than petty grievances against those who seem to be better off or live easier than we do.
God is telling Jeremiah “ If you are not able to encounter lesser dangers, how will you be able to overcome greater ones?”
Jesus said to us in John 16: 33 “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! Take Courage! I have overcome the world.”
It’s natural that our hardest days and most difficult trials are ahead of us, not behind us. If you are worried and in great upset about these things, what are you going to do when you are forced to face extremely difficult trials and troubles that are most certainly just around the bend?
Matthew Henry said, “The faith even of strong believers may sometimes be sorely shaken and ready to fail them. There will be storms that will try the firmest anchors.”
Now, Isn’t that the truth?
Jeremiah was consumed with grief about the prosperity of the wicked in Anathoth when just in a short time He would be beaten in Jerusalem by order of the priest Pashhur (instead of worrying about the prosperity of heathens in Anathoth, he was about to be severely punished by a priest in Jerusalem).
Let's take a sneak peek of what is in store for Jeremiah:
“He had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper gate of Benjamin at the LORD's temple.” Jer. 20:2
God saw this coming when Jeremiah was crying about the prosperity of the wicked!
If Jeremiah had known what was going to happen ahead of him, He wouldn't have wasted time complaining about the men of Anathoth. Jeremiah was concerned about something insignificant when something greater needed his attention.
And, His own family was secretly conspiring against him — they spoke well of him to his face but were trying to incite a mob against him behind his back. They seemed to be friendly but they were really his enemies.
God's faithful servants shouldn't think it's strange that their enemies are in their own family, some living under their own roof.
Jesus told us in Matthew 10:34-35
“For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies will be the members of his own household.”
So friends, If the footmen weary you what will the horses do?
I know I keep repeating the statement because it’s what the Holy Spirit would have me consistently say so that you hear the challenge and that you are strengthened to stand up and be courageous, now!
God's answer to Jeremiah was to be absolutely determined to stay solid and immovable in his walk with God, because there were bigger trials ahead of him that needed his attention. But God does let him know what will happen to Israel and her enemies. Although God punishes Israel by allowing her enemies to overtake the land, God would not let her enemies sacrilegiously use that land which belongs to Israel. Even their land is blessed!
“But after I uproot them, I WILL AGAIN HAVE COMPASSION and will bring each of them back to his own inheritance and his own country.” (Jeremiah 12:15)
God will again deliver his people from their enemies by uprooting them just as he did when they were suffering in Egypt.
God shows that even his enemies may receive compassion and grace.
“And if they learn well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, 'As surely as the LORD lives' even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal – then they will be established among my people.” (v.16)
God's Expectation Is Plain.
If Israel's enemies would pay homage to God the way they did for Baal, (a dead and dumb idol) if they could humble themselves to follow the God of Israel instead of teaching Israel to follow idols they would be rewarded, but if not...
“'But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it,' declares the LORD” (v. 17)
God's call and Plan and Instructions for us can be summed up in
I Corinthians 16:13 “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.”
Our greatest difficulties are ahead of us, not behind us.
(If our troubles were always behind us, we would never grow as a Christian.)
We mustn’t waste time complaining about petty things.
Quickly put on your helmet, take up your sword and shield, tighten your armor and get ready! Get ready to run with the horses!
God offers Jeremiah a beautifully wise word picture for him to consider.
He essentially asks Jeremiah, “If footmen weary you, what will the horses do?”
Paul referred to life as a race.
Makes sense, after all, it has a beginning, a middle, and a strong determination to finish strong. It requires endurance, patience, devotion and a resolution to finish strong. At the end of his life Paul said, “I have finished the race.” And referring to Jeremiah's race God is saying: If running with others on foot, when everything is equal, what are you going to do when they are given horses?
In this verse the prophet Jeremiah has been complaining about his persecutors. God Divinely answers, and warns Jeremiah about his impatience, and then tells him that harder trials are in store for him.
What? More distressing times?
We all have had the experience of how in our lives, there are long stretches of uneventful days, and then, generally without warning, some crisis is sprung on us, which demands quite a different set of gifts to cope with it. Our monsoons in Colorado, generally come without any warning from a falling barometer.
We can at any moment be confronted with some hard duty which will exhaust our energy. We may at any moment be plunged in some huge calamity and the quiet course of our lives for years suddenly is interrupted with fierce storms and devastating fallout.
We won’t always have the easy foot race with footmen; there will some times come a call to strain our muscles to keep up with the gallop of the cavalry. We will have to struggle to keep our feet in the rising waters of difficultly, and must not expect to have a continual leisurely life in ‘a land of peace.’
With the power of Jesus in our spirits we shall never have to attempt
a duty that we are not first strengthened by Him to take on.
And we never have to face a danger in which He won’t defend us.
With His life in us we will be ready for the long hours of uneventful, unexciting duties, and for the short spurts that make precise calls on each of us to respond to. We ‘WILL run and not be weary; we will walk and not faint.’
As I finish this podcast I’d like to share what Oswald Chambers said about patience during the time of great difficulty and when the world is filled with uprising. It is so powerful and quite comforting.
The Duty of Patience
"Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth" (Rev. 3:10).
Jesus says we are to keep the word of His patience. There are so many things in this life that it seems much better to be impatient about.
The best picture to explain this is that of an archer:
He pulls the bow string further and further away from his bow with the arrow solidly fixed in its slot, then, when it is adjusted, with his eye on the target he lets it fly.
The Christian's life is like that. God is the archer.
He takes the saint like a bow which He stretches, and we get to a certain point and say,"I can't stand any more, I can't stand this test of patience any longer," but God goes on stretching.
He is not aiming at OUR TARGET mark, but at His own, and the patience of the saints is that we hold on until He lets the arrow fly straight to His goal.
Are you ready for a time of strengthening to come into your life?
The Lord promises that a dramatic transformation will take place in us when we abandon our agenda and open ourselves to His plan for us.
We can see this so clearly in the life of Saul before he had become the Apostle Paul. Saul had been intent upon his own evil strategy to persecute Christians. Then came his life-changing encounter with Jesus, when he asked the most important question of all in Acts 9:6:
“Lord, what do YOU want me to do?”
Are you ready to ask the Lord that same question?
Are you ready to give up your own fruitless designs in return for God’s better plan?
Let’s pray that together now.
Lord Jesus, I have been moving forward persistently with my own thoughts and plans. I have been intent upon seeing those accomplished. Now I see that despite my good intentions, my plans may not be in line with Yours.
Right now, I humble myself before You.
I take this moment to ask, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”
In Your presence, I place my agenda on the shelf, and I open my heart and my hands to Your plans and purposes.
I belong to You, Lord. Please forgive me for any stubbornness that may have captivated me.
I pull down that stronghold right now—any thought that needs to be taken captive to the obedience of Christ.
I place my future in Your hands, Lord Jesus.
Have Your way—and only Your way—in my life. Amen.
Duplication and sharing of this writing is welcomed, as long as the complete message, website podcast link and information for Mary Lindow is included.
Thank You! 2022
"THE MESSENGER" - Mary Lindow
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Monday Jan 10, 2022
Monday Jan 10, 2022
WE THINK THAT WE ARE SO KNOWLEDGEABLE about our own needs and ourselves! But, more often than not, we are just opinionated and headstrong people!
By Mary Lindow through the Holy Spirit
WE THINK THAT WE ARE SO KNOWLEDGEABLE about our own needs and ourselves! But, more often than not, we are just opinionated and headstrong people! We refuse instructions from anyone who could tell us about the deeper things of the spirit, because “We know”, or… “Don’t want to know!”
(How DARE you address this Mrs. Lindow)!!!
Hmmmm! I think I will continue!! **smile**
We stumble along without anyone's help, and all the while we are overlooking that gnawing, “unsettled sense” inside of us, though if we paid attention to this we would see our true inner condition. It is in this way that we acclimate our souls to straggle along in a dark spiritual wilderness, and how we do ourselves so much harm.
MANY, MANY OTHER CHRISTIAN SOULS ARE JUST LIKE THIS.
They don't know how to do anything other than let their human senses guide them, and then one day, God intervenes. He arranges things so that one day when you are all alone, there will heave from within your heart a sudden surprising awareness of absolute emptiness. He may also cause you to have a feeling of complete emptiness, but an overwhelming sense of isolation from others, and a lot of loss.
“All of a person's ways seem right in his own opinion,
But the LORD evaluates the motives.” -Proverbs 21:2
You see, there is nothing but a bottomless crater to look down into the deadness of our own souls if we are not fully committed to God. If you ever come to this place you will know how quickly your soul wants to run away and to rush to find something, anything at all, to "fill" itself up again with noise and activity.
Art! Food! Beautiful Clothing! The doing of generous deeds! Perfectionistic exercising and self-improvement to show your “Self” discipline!
After all... PEOPLE are watching!
The reality of this is, So Is God.
VERY FEW SEE THIS BLEAK MOMENT FOR WHAT IT REALLY IS.
It's a chance to see their need for something that is beyond themselves.
But my friend, this can be a moment where the soul can cross over from its own empty silence into an expected quiet that is alive with His presence.
It silences the anguish, the anxious restlessness into a calm and still place of peace. It's as if the soul finds that in this dark place, there is secret well of sweet water, and it springs up and overflows with light and life.
Learning to pass into this place of the Spirit and allowing God to keep your soul in refreshing silent tranquility is a true act of the maturing believer.
ALL OF YOUR FLESHY SOUL WILL WANT TO RADICALLY FIGHT THIS,
and it will do so by trying to analyze what's happening!
All of this kind of behavior will just weigh you down, and it'll pull you back from walking in the spirit, to walking simply in your own understanding.
The choice we all must make is encapsulated in this statement made by John the Baptist.
“He must increase, but I must decrease.” -John 3:30
Another translation of this verse says it even more plainly.
“He must become more important
while I become less important."
WHEW!
HEAVEN CAN BE ENTERED ONLY THROUGH THE NARROW GATE!
The pathway to hell is broad,
and its gate is wide enough for all the multitudes that choose its easy way.
But the Gateway to Life is small,
and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it. –Matthew 7:13-14
THE WORD “WAY” TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK WORD HODÓS LITERALLY MEANS “A NATURAL ROAD OR TRAVELED WAY”.
It refers to a way of life or a way of thinking.
The word is used six times in the book of Acts as a substitute for Christianity itself. We can quickly understand that the Christian faith is more than a one-time decision to accept Christ. It is a faith, which alters the very course of a life.
THE WORD “NARROW” COMES FROM THE GREEK VERB THLÍBO, WHICH MEANS TO PRESS OR CRUSH
AS A WORKER IN A VINEYARD MIGHT CRUSH GRAPES OR A CROWD OF PEOPLE MIGHT PRESS AGAINST ONE ANOTHER.
This word also means to experience trouble, difficulty, or affliction.
COMBINED WITH THE GREEK WORD HODÓS, IT INSINUATES A SQUEEZED, STRAITENED, OR NARROWING PATHWAY.
The cramped condition of the path seems to imply two valuable truths about the nature of the Christian life.
It is a way marked out by the will of God, and it is a way marked by difficulty and struggle.
Remember, when your soul discovers how to let the Holy Spirit bring it into this place of inner peace of learning to rest in this stillness, it’s only because God is carrying you in his arms and that you sense no toil or drive on your part.
Friends, this accomplishes much more than all of your own actions or works of performance, since God Himself, is at work inside of you.
“I am confident that the Creator, who has begun such a great work in you, will not stop in mid-design but will keep perfecting you until the day Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King, returns to redeem the world.” -Philippians 1:6 (The Voice)
IF WE FACE “THE NARROWING”, THE CHALLENGE OF ALLOWING OUR SOUL, OUR FLESH, TO BE FULLY HANDED OVER TO GOD’S PATHWAY,
HE WILL TEACH OUR SOUL HOW TO OVERCOME
THREE OF THE MOST TOXIC OF SINS.
These sins are -
Anger, Envy, and, an unwillingness to obey the Lord.
These run wild through our stony and hardened hearts
and they eventually can crumble and ruin us.
YOU SEE, OUR SOULS DESIRE TO FIND COMPLETE HAPPINESS, BLISS, CONSOLATION AND SECURITY IN THIS WORLD, AND THIS CAN NEVER REALLY HAPPEN!
So, God has to show us our great darkness when our soul tries to find spiritual strength there, because there is no sweet and vibrant life when our soul is attached to the things of this world! It’s a wide and gregarious path in the world, and the crowds on the pathway adore gratification and pleasure of every sort.
Our souls have a natural demand for wanting our own pleasure and achievement, and frustration causes these sins to grow, and they bring the very ugly fruit that is produced from them right into the light! OUCH!
THE LORD ALLOWS HIS TOOL OF DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES TO CRUSH AND TO CRACK OUR HARD SOULS.
He plants His word of light deep into our darkness. And He pours the living water of His spirit on our dryness and then we soften, as he uproots our old sluggish ways and our complaining about obeying God. Meaning, having to pass up our soothing comforts and pleasures.
NOW, I URGE YOU TO QUIET THE COMPLAINING OF YOUR SOUL, WITH ITS REBELLIONS.
We will naturally want to turn back to its pleasure and demands!
But as the world goes further and further into broad deviations of every kind, you as a believer will face a fork in the road.
One of the most cunning temptations of the times that we live in right now for believers is the mindset that says,
“I’m not going to get into any trouble! I can handle things as a Christian just fine!
I wont actually “touch the fire” I’ll just play around it!”
WHAT IS THAT FIRE?
It’s justifying and adapting God’s often narrow and absolute instructions about relationships, marriage, sex, self-indulgence, arrogance, “harmless" Occult involvement and lording over those whom you feel are less astute or affluent as you.
GOD WILL AND HE MUST BRING THIS DRYNESS OUT OF OUR SOULS AND KILL THESE DEADLY ROOTS!
Quiet the pathetic demands of your soul for soothing comforts and a right to be angry and judgmental!
When your path seems empty and silent and desert dry, put your soul’s concentration on God alone. You can hardly imagine the harvest of a lasting joy that comes to you, when you learn to be free of your soul’s whining. It's there that God can speak quiet words!
They will be so sweet and tender, and he will speak of his great love to us.
KNOW THIS. DRYNESS WILL TRY TO COME AGAIN AND AGAIN.
It wants to lead you to self-justification and an easy escape from the hammer and chisel of God shaping your being, turning it into a reservoir for His purposes.
It will try to come back with greater strength each time you resist. So stand your ground and stand firm in the quietness of your brokenness.
Focus upon His presence guiding you down the narrowing path.
He will come to you and His fresh guidance will be more amazing than anything your natural mind can imagine.
A PROPHETIC WORD FROM THE SPIRIT OF GOD
FOR THOSE FACING “THE NARROWING PATH”
“Darker and broader and louder come the shouts of world to draw you into its intricate webs.
These webs of deceit are spun with silken tongues and with the softness of the promise of an easier life.
There is a reckoning coming to those that sell lies and imprison those who buy their wares.
But for those who are determined to not walk on a fence, trying to balance between their own thinking and me, there will be a “Divine Might” that will empower them to continue down the narrowing way.
Where does this narrowing journey lead?
What is the payoff at the end?
As you become more determined and lay aside the things that have hindered you over and over again from fully entering into the deeper places with me, a lightness and freedom will propel you toward a place of Living Light.
That Light is Me, and you will soon know Me in a different way than you have in past years and seasons.
My one warning to many is that they cannot argue that the path is “too narrow”.
What mankind might call “rigid” I call “Straight and Direct”.
If you choose to alter the plans that I have set down for your protection and safety, you will grieve my Spirit and allow a searing of your conscience to override the truths that you know deep in your heart.
“The path of those who do right is straight and smooth.
I, who am upright, make the way of the righteous level.” -Isaiah 26:7
“The Narrowing” has begun to increase, and the love for it has decreased among those who choose to remain passive to conviction and pure living.
Allow my Holy Spirit to move freely again.
I know what I must do, to break the constraints of man.
Let me move!
Are you afraid that I might be ridiculed?
Or, are you more concerned for your image and patterns before men?
“Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies,
But test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good.”
-I Thessalonians 5:19-21
Choose the “Narrowing Way”. For I, Am there.
Choose the pathway of “rightness” with me, even when others scoff at your “narrow mindedness”.
When the days become darker and the world tilts and twists in further unrestrained darkness,
You will be the carrier of My Light, which can lead the lukewarm and lost down the narrow, but safe, and integral way, to Me.
Duplication and sharing of this message is welcomed,
Provided that complete message, podcast site link
and website information
forMary Lindow is included.
Thank you!
"The Messenger" ~ Mary Lindow
2022 ©
www.marylindow.com
www.marylindow.podbean.com
Friday Apr 09, 2021
Friday Apr 09, 2021
by Mary Lindow through the Holy Spirit
Today’s podcast is one that shares something that has given me a greater sense of being anchored in the Lord during these very strange and unusual times in the earth.
I love it when the Lord speaks to us in his word, or from other people speaking into our lives and also through dreams or visions.
Now, what I’m about to share with you is a significant dream that I had not too many nights ago. I know that the dream was from the Lord because it spoke to the things that I had been praying about and asking the Lord to give me confirmation over, as well as insights to these prayers.
If you will research the word of God you will see how the Lord has used dreams and spoken to people through dreams and visions, and led them not only out of dangerous situations, but also spoke to them about situations that were about to take place in their lives.
Numbers 12:6 speaks about this.
Listen to my words:
“When there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD,
reveal myself to them in visions,
I speak to them in dreams".
The dream I had was very detailed and very vivid. I’ve had several of these in my walk with the Lord throughout the years.
The dream began with me standing on the tarmac of an airport runway walking towards an airplane where you had to climb up a tall and narrow stairway in order to enter the plane.
As I was standing at the bottom of the stairway I turned around and looked behind me. Standing directly in front of me was an individual whom I recognized. She was holding two very large babies in her arms. They both were grossly oversized and their faces looked like adults. These babies were throwing temper tantrums and crying, and wanted lots of attention.
The letters PhD showed up on the forehead of this person holding the babies. She was shouting at me that I did not have time to get on the plane because we had to take care of all of these babies! I knew in my spirit in the dream that these babies represented adults who still act like children and want to have intellectualism and others with educational or intellectual abilities, tend to their every need, and, they were forever wanting attention!
Behind my friend was a shoulder-high picket fence that was very worn and splintered. Behind the fence there were all kinds of people laughing and mocking and partying. Some were very enraged and were spewing out nasty words and hateful statements. This was all being directed at the people who were climbing or ascending the stairway, climbing up to a higher level to enter a jumbo jet.
I began my ascent on the steps and turned around and noticed that my friend was very angry at me for not listening to her ideas about how to handle all the troubles going on with adults, acting like children today. I knew that I had a very tight timeframe to get up the stairs and get on the plane, so I turned around, sadly knowing that I had to put a distance between myself and the things going on behind me, and keep moving upward.
When I reached the point of entry on the plane a police woman of sorts put her arm out and said, “You cannot enter! There are only a certain amount of people allowed on this specific flight!” I very kindly told her that my husband had already boarded the plane and that we had tickets. She looked at me and said, “Yes then you may pass. You may enter.”
As I stepped into the plane it looked like it had a very simple, low stage/platform down in the front of the plane and the seating looked like an auditorium with spacious seating. There was a single door on the back wall of the small stage. People were milling around by their seats and quietly enjoying warm conversations in anticipation that someone important was going to be coming out and addressing them.
I then noticed that there was a dividing wall down the middle of the plane and there were people on the other side of the wall as well that were seated. I could not see my husband Steve so I spoke out loud and shouted, “Steve Lindow?” And, I heard his voice from around the other side of the wall saying “I’m over here!”
As I went around the corner I saw Steve in the very far back of the seating area where there were just two reclining type airplane seats, that were very comfortable. When I went back to be with him I noticed that his leg was in a leg brace and a foot boot. ( In real life, Steve was actually fighting a disjointed bone in his foot at the time Id had this dream, and had been wearing a foot boot around the house!)
Steve was smiling and had his foot propped up and looked very comfortable. As I was about to take my seat next to him, an individual in a professional pilot’s type of airline suit came up to us and told us that there were two special seats for us behind us, in an alcove. I noticed on the hat that he wore was the word STEWARD in capital letters. This individual was very kind and helpful and made sure that we were “guided” to the alcove where two very comfortable extra wide padded luxury seats were located.
As I sat down in this amazing chair, I look to the left of me and on the wall there was an affixed sign that said “Prayer Room”.
In the dream I said out loud, “Wow! I have never seen a prayer room on an airplane before!”
The steward stood there and smiled at me and nodded his head knowingly. I had a feeling that this was the Lord helping us and Stewarding us, helping to get us settled and was ministering to us as we positioned ourselves for the flight we were just about to take.
Just before this individual left us, he leaned over and winked at us and said, “Buckle up!” At that point in the dream we were made aware that we were going to need to have the seatbelts on in order to endure the intensity of the flight.
I woke up and after this dream I knew that I’d heard something from the Holy Spirit, very important for the times that we are in.
As I began to pray and search the Scriptures the Lord unpacked the dream for me.
The tarmac represented the earthly road that we walk on every day.
People travel back-and-forth in the earth and on the earth every day. As I was approaching the stairway to go up and ascend into the jumbo jet, there were distractions and conversations going on that were trying to get me to change my decision in order to follow what would look like common sense, intellectual advice, or following the narrative of angry people, or feeling humiliated by people who had mocking spirits.
Since Steve and I have also been involved in much pastoral counseling the past five years, one thing that stood out strongly in the vision/dream was that the PhD written across the forehead of the woman, stood for trying to solve things or trying to attain helping people, through discourse of the mind or using humanism and coping mechanisms to help tame the soul.
The two large babies that had the faces of adults that were throwing temper tantrums, speaks very strongly of many believers who refuse to grow up into mature adults in the Lord and refuse to become responsible for their own choices and actions, and instead throw temper tantrums and cry and scream, and blame everyone else for their immaturity or reoccurring problems.
This is also a common narrative in the world right now that is causing great division among people groups as well as the push for verbal abuse and the ability to character assassinate.
I knew that I had to turn my back on everything that was causing me to be distracted or overwhelmed, as well as walk away from dependance on anything that clinical or educational pursuits that might be allowed to cloud my ability to ascend higher in the Lord. I knew that this stairway that I was going up to get into the jumbo jet, was very steep and it was very narrow and that I had to focus on climbing.
In Matthew 7:13-14 it says,
“There are two paths before you; you may take only one path.
One doorway is narrow. And one door is wide.
Go through the narrow door.
For the wide door leads to a wide path, and the wide path is broad; the wide, broad path is easy, and the wide, broad, easy path has many, many people on it; but the wide, broad, easy, crowded path leads to death. Now then that narrow door leads to a narrow road that in turn leads to life. It is hard to find that road. Not many people manage it."
The police woman at theentry door onto the plane I believe, was an example of the protection of the Lord using a discernment factor as to who you allow to travel with you in this next phase of your walk with the Lord, as well as the kind of relationships and fellowship that will be forming in the days ahead.
I was allowed to pass and enter because Steve and I had already agreed that we we’re going to travel together and be in agreement as a couple, to obey and follow the path that God was leading us on, even if we knew it would be hard.
There was an atmosphere of anticipation among everyone that was milling around and standing by their seats before the flight took off.
Again, the platform was just a simple stage with one door in the center. It seemed as if someone was going to step out and address everyone once the flight took off, but everyone was at peace knowing that this was a very important announcement…
… but that there was a specific timing for it.
As I called out for Steve to locate him and he called me and I went around the wall and began to move towards where he was sitting, I was aware of a very sweet presence and atmosphere of holiness and reverence.
We were seated in the back but no one at all felt like they had any kind of priority seating or notoriety. All of the seats were very plush and comfortable for everyone, in order to make the trip bearable during its time of flight.
The Lord then began to speak to me about Steve’s leg boot and knee brace that he was wearing in the dream.
He showed me that so many in the Body of Christ are in a time of being called up into a higher place with the Lord, and that during this difficult and pressure filled time in the earth right now, people have felt “hobbled” and as if they are unable to move about freely and travel and function in jobs or pursuits as they had in the past, and weren’t able to freely do things in missionary work or evangelical work during the restrictions that have been placed on them.
The Lord very sweetly let me know that HE is stewarding this time.
Remember the man with a hat that said “STEWARD” on it?
During this time that we are all experiencing the great discomforts of being either isolated or locked down or hindered, (and most all of us are very aware that the pressure has been intense for so many and it has immobilized so many people), the Lord is sending us help and he is wanting us to steward this time wisely and use it for the purpose of coming into a bigger place, a broader expanse of the understanding of “ascending higher” into a place of relationship with him.
Ephesians 2:6 says,
“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him
in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus”
As the steward gently guided us over to the alcove to the two extra plush extra comfortable reclining seats that were prepared for us, (we were being SEATED With Him In Heavenly Realms) the Lord showed me that when he moves us into a different place or when he is causing us to travel into a new location or a place with him, he puts us under the shadow of his wing and protects us, and shields us while we are in that time of transition and change.
And, as I saw the sign positioned on the wall that said Prayer Room, and even spoke out-loud In the dream saying, “Wow! I’ve never seen a prayer room on a plane before”, it was if the Holy Spirit was saying to me, “When I move you into a new place of transition, even if you feel hobbled or you feel restrained or restricted, this is because I am drawing you into a place or a new 'plain' of prayer”.
He wants us to understand that we are seated with Christ in heavenly places, and that, that ascended place of intercession in prayer, is a place where the strongholds and warfare are viewed from the pure wisdom of God’s view and God’s understanding.
Colossians 3:1 says,
---- >“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ,
---- > Set your hearts on things above,
---- > Where Christ is,
---- > Seated at the right hand of God.”
Now Remember, we were on a jumbo jet with only selected people who were allowed to be on that flight, waiting for instructions from someone that was going to come through a single door on a platform.
I believe that those on the plane represented a fresh unity and equal playing field in the Body of Christ. Everyone had a place to sit and a place to comfortably spread out, and yet there was no title or competition for position or notoriety or elite seating. Everyone was waiting to be told to take their seats and were anticipating this unique flight, and, waiting for instructions from the person who would come through the door.
Now! The last part of the dream was very significant.
When Steve and I had gotten over the surprise at the extremely comfortable and roomy seats that we were given in the prayer alcove,
I was impressed to remember the steward that stood by quietly and was smiling, but was very much a professional in his uniform. REMEMBER. He leaned over and winked at us and said “buckle up”! Now, This was said kindly and the wink was in a sense of being humorous, but when he said it, it was as if we were being told, “you need to make sure you are ready for what you are about to experience in prayer on this next journey”.
After much meditation and praying and dialoguing with Steve and a few other individuals in ministry that I respect, I feel that this dream is an indicator to the Body of Christ to leave behind the things that so easily trip us up and to also allow ourselves, to be separated from the things that the world has to offer us, or, the things that the world is throwing at us to mock what we believe in Christ as truth.
We are to no longer lean upon our own understanding, our own intellect, or our own intellectual assumptions about giftings and callings. We are to quickly climb and ascend with Christ at this time as the path narrows, and gather among those that God has assigned us to be in unity with, in prayer.
This is a time of the Holy Spirit drawing us into an atmosphere of reverence, and it may feel a little cloistered and compressed for a while as if being hobbled, but it is in fact a place of being called to come up higher into the things of the Spirit of God.
As we hide under the shadow of his wings and we intercede and we pray in the spirit and wait upon the Lord and steward this time, we are being prepared and kept safe, as we buckle up for some of the turbulence in the days ahead.
Whoever was about to step out on the platform in the front of the plane, was someone of great significance which I believe was the Lord Himself giving Divine instructions and fresh commissioning to those who were selected to be on this flight.
They came from all walks of life, all ethnic backgrounds and had one thing in common.
They wanted to walk in unity and in a deeper level of the knowledge and wisdom of God.
Psalm 133:1 says,
“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”
My friends, with the world in absolute upheaval and so many shocking events taking place so rapidly, many believers have asked themselves how could they have missed what was coming, or how could they have not seen things more clearly or sooner!
Understand this, evil has always been just one breath away in the earth.
It just puts on different forms and personalities and masks in order to trick people, or to deceive them into solving problems through intellectualism, through scientific projections and theories, and also through religious structures that prohibit freedom in Christ for all.
Remember that Satan goes around “like” a roaring lion seeking...
...whom he “may” devour.
Most people are devoured by looking to news articles and trending narratives in order to make sense of chaos or to make sense of experiences that they are having.
We as believers are being called to “ascend into a place of great fellowship with the Lord”. That’s going to cost us something.
It’s going to cost us our reputations at times, it’s going to cost us relationships. It’s going to cost us financially and it’s going to cost us, how much time we spend entertaining ourselves.
I have seen many believers put on a new form of “self protective rigidity in their faith” actually shunning or distancing themselves from anyone who does not meet their standard of structure or approach to serving Christ. This is actually a form of secret pride in thinking personal holiness and personal reverence is allowed to be selective.
I would like to say that when you are desperate enough to serve the Lord at all costs, you don’t have a whole lot of time to pigeonhole people. If you find yourself discriminating against someone who isn’t as zealous as you are, or who tends to be a verbal processor, or perhaps even someone who is very stoic, most likely you will be hindered from being allowed to enter this new plain and place of travel with the Lord.
I like how the Passion translation addresses this in John 7:24.
“Stop judging based on the superficial.
First you must embrace the standards of mercy and truth.”
The Lord is looking for unity, he is looking for like mindedness, he’s looking for humility and an anticipation of being able to speak and direct his people in the up-and-coming fresh move of his power in the earth among mankind.
One thing I know for sure, the Lord is looking for vessels who know how to honor and respect as well as fear the Lord. Those who reverence Him, and in doing so, reverence those that God has placed in their lives to form a bond of unity with, no matter how unique and different each individual is.
The Body of Christ has always been encouraged and challenged by the Holy Spirit to come up higher to hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to the churches. (Revelation 3:22 )
So, if the Spirit of the Lord is speaking to us to come up higher and has something to tell us, then the Spirit of the Lord is also telling us, there are things that we will need to be saying and speaking after we receive instructions about them.
These instructions can only be pure and concise after we have spent time in intercession, in the prayer room, in an alcove seated with Christ in heavenly places.
We need to “buckle up” and prepare in prayer for the things God is about to lay out to us in instructions, but we also have to understand that there will be warfare and discouragement and accusations that will come during this time of being secluded and called to prayer.
Satan does not give up ground easily...
…and, if you will recall when Jesus was in the wilderness, he was being sent by the Spirit of the Lord to be set aside for a time of prayer and fasting, and the enemy was relentless in attempting to wear him down and break him.
Jesus gave us the model to an ascended life, and what means is that we must get alone with the Father. We get into a place of secluded intercession as we ascend to meet with him in prayer.
Life is not easy for those who choose to separate themselves and answer the upward calling of Christ.
But, life is exciting and rewarding as we serve him with our eyes fixed upon the eternal long term results.
Philippians 3:14-15 says this,
“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.
But one thing I do:
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
I press on toward the goal to attain the heavenly prize…
…of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
All of us who are mature should embrace this point of view.
And if you think differently about some issue, God will reveal this to you as well."
Duplication and sharing of this writing is welcomed provided that
complete source, podcast and website information
for Mary Lindow is included.
Thank You Copyright © 2021 " THE MESSENGER " ~Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
www.globalprayerrooms.com
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Monday Aug 17, 2020
Monday Aug 17, 2020
By Mary Lindow
DEAR FRIENDS OR READERS. THIS IS MOST POSSIBLY ONE OF THE MOST SUCCINCT WORDS THAT THE LORD HAS GIVEN TO ME TO SHARE THIS FAR IN MY LIFE WITH HIM.
WHAT WE ACCOMPLISH AS MEMBERS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD
IS DONE BY THE POWER OF GOD,
AND BE EVER SO CAREFUL! KNOWLEDGE CAN BE MISTAKEN FOR MATURITY. The Times are RAPIDLY Changing, and I know that for me, it will require a different strategy to handle them and that I must be willing and able to walk out the days ahead. It seems as if I identify with the prophet Jeremiah more often now than ever before. And so, I am CHOOSING to adjust the way of delivering my portion of what the Spirit of God would give me, as He leads me. Daily.I AM IN WORDLESS, TEAR-STREAMING GRIEF over the rapid forms of meditation, eastern mysticism, competitive daily trendy "prophetic" articles/words (advertisements!) -and outright fear mongering one moment and then "hysterical" any moment breakthrough messages, (both which, recycle over and over, that are sweeping into the Body of Christ.Facebook posts are loaded like a buttered baked potato with a big scoop of sour cream, and belch out sarcasm; shaming, smug and rude "thumbing the nose" at any warnings or loving corrections, and the devouring and public slandering has become unbearable.WHEN PEOPLE REFUSE TO LET GOD BE THE JUDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, when they inject their own standards to oppose His, these people who are "usurping" assume a sovereignty or power that belongs only to God. They choose to undermine God’s order, in order to demand their own, and in doing this, they hope to avoid the pinpricks of their conscience. After all, "if it's legal" then it must be right! Right?" No. God’s law is not so easily escaped or fanned away as an old dusty list of metaphors.CONCEIT AND PRIDE ARE THE GREATEST ENEMIES TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH! Newly "acquired knowledge" or notoriety often leads to pride rather than wisdom. There is no more certain way to fall into sin and self-deception than to allow pride to lead us into putting confidence in ourselves rather than God. This kind of pride always leads to destruction, because it robs us of God’s power to stand against temptation!WHAT WE ACCOMPLISH AS MEMBERS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS DONE BY THE POWER OF GOD. AND, KNOWLEDGE CAN BE MISTAKEN FOR MATURITY. True knowledge is designed to bring us TO maturity. When we parade our so called freedom before others in an effort to reveal how much we know, we reveal our immaturity and are treading on dangerous ground! Knowledge put on PUBLIC display leads to heartbreak and divisive scattering...The Western Style "First World Church" is caught up in so many identity crises! And, with the many pushing movements and meetings, the voices crying out and weeping in the places of preparation (the wilderness) saying, "You! Yes YOU! Prepare the Way of the LORD!... ...straighten out those crooked, twisted paths!" -are suddenly being told to step back into a place of silence and travailing prayer, determined to lean in closer to THE Voice that is small, still, and sure.ONLY TIME SPENT WITH THE LORD, like a dear friend, will fill the gaping ache you have. He will speak, He will comfort, and He will show you what is true and what is false in the days ahead if you will return to that Place of companionship with Him. Away from the opinions of men and the noise of this life. As you turn your heart and hopes towards him you will see compassion poured out upon you and you will then have his power of pure godly compassion and “wisdom driven” grace to pour out on others.SPEAK TO HIM WITH ALL OF YOUR HEART, YOUR LONGINGS, YOUR HEARTACHES, AND YOUR DREAMS. HE WILL BE THERE WITH ARMS OF STRENGTH TO RESCUE YOU FROM DESPAIR."“A Prophetic Word” Can you not hear my voice speaking to you clearly? Has it become clouded with the cares of this life and the voices of men articulating what they “think” is my voice?My time for you to hear the truth is never when man decides it. The world screams that all the chaos and change is turning and twisting men's hearts away from me. But when I speak and when I move and I am lifted up, men's hearts ache for me!There is a greater power in my silence then there is in the shouting of mankind saying that I do not exist! It is folly and foolishness to think that man can try to silence or attempt to erase me!I am preparing for myself a bride. Not a foolish, emotionally lovesick self-seeking bride! No I am seeking and preparing for myself a mature godly gathering of those who will become one and unified with and in me. I am the one that is shaping and fashioning this bride in the refining fires that are currently burning across the earth.Men may try to redefine me, say that I do not exist, they may attempt to twist words that I have spoken in order to fit the base agenda in their own souls, but all the while I am shaping and fashioning and preparing for myself an army and a bride that will not be defeated in the days to come. Adjust your thinking child!I am not a God to be dictated to or to be demanded of! I am one to be approached with brokenness and humility! Those who have a contrite heart and a right spirit are the ones that I will answer. There is a time coming when I will sweep away and clean up the false examples of prophetic ministry claiming and declaring things that have nothing to do but glorify the flesh.If a person's heart is not right with me, no matter what they declare, decree, or shout, it will fall upon ears of deafness in heaven. I desire truth in your inward parts.Let me reduce you to love.Stripping away title, presumption and secret desires for notoriety. In order to be like me you have to live like I did in the earth. I served mankind and was spat upon. I spoke truth and I was mocked. I challenged the proud and religious thinkers of the day and they desired to silence me and kill me.I am calling you my people to become honest in heart, broken and humble before me, and with willing and heart to serve me, and those that I send to you. It is not their external condition that you are to judge, nor categorize.Your job is to share my life my light and my love with them. And in your example of how you treat them is how I see you treating me. Show no favoritism but humble yourselves in my site and do the work of my servant.Yes, the days are changing and the mandates for your life are becoming more defined. Bow before me and reconnect your heart to truth and simplicity and the grace of knowing that you were purchased with a life poured out so that you might live life to the fullest."It is necessary for him to increase and for me to decrease." -John 3:30
Duplication and re-transmission of this writing is welcomed providedthat complete source, and website informationfor Mary Lindow is included.Thank YouCopyright © 2020 " THE MESSENGER " ~ Mary Lindowwww.marylindow.comwww.globalprayerrooms.com
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Saturday Jul 06, 2019
Saturday Jul 06, 2019
By Mary Lindow
As I sit here in the outdoors this evening enjoying an unusually cool and brilliantly moonlit sky, I am stirred to speak openly and transparently about the things that God is not only dealing with in my personal journey with him, but also some of the trends and presumptions that occur in the world of “Christendom” when it appears and feels as if the Father God is far off and seemingly unresponsive to the cries of those desperate for relief and merciful compassion.
Through his own personal agony, King David came to a new understanding of what it really was that God required from man.
ENMESHED INTO DECEPTION
God is not interested in our outward sacrifices or "offerings."
This does not necessarily mean that God never requires outward forms of worship or expression or observances. Many lines of Scripture prove that at times he does. But it does mean that these are not the things that he requires first. If our religious practices contain nothing more than outward actions and performance, then God takes no pleasure in them.
God always looks underneath what goes on outwardly, and looks to the motives and the attitude of the heart. What does he look for there?
David tells us in Psalm 51:16 -17
“For you delight not in sacrifice, or else would I give it; you find no pleasure in burnt offering.
The sacrifice [the sacrifice acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.”
BROKEN AND CONTRITE
These are not common words to our ears these days!
Just what does it mean when God asks that we have a broken spirit?
Does he want us to be beaten down and humiliated?
I am sure that this is not his plan. So? What IS a broken spirit?
It is an “inner self” that has come totally to the end of it-self. It makes no claims, and offers no arguments. All independence, all self-will, self-promotion, all self-righteousness have been pruned away.
Such a spirit simply turns and trusts completely upon God, not trusting in his own skill, merit, popularity, or ability to influence. This one who has willingly allowed the disciplining of his soul knows that he or she must only trust in God and his unrelenting mercy.
If we will ALLOW Him to guide us, HE knows how to produce this brokenness of spirit in each of us. Just remember, he treats us as individuals. And he would never abuse our individuality. He uses just the right amount of intensity needed to accomplish his desires, that we would relinquish our mistrust in his plan and fully step into total abandonment, willingly accepting his plan.
“For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.”
-Lamentations 3:33
AFFLICTION IS ALSO KNOWN AS - “DISCIPLINE”
If there was ever a man who had to face affliction also known as “discipline” - it was David. I am amazed that he never became bitter. He even admitted that it did him good! God allows us to come under afflictions/discipline, not because he is mad at us, nor because he has rejected us. It is actually a demonstration of his faithfulness.
When he sees us taking a wrong turn that will lead to our own harm and damage, he allows difficulty and affliction/discipline to turn us back to the way that leads to peace and blessing.
When I say affliction, I am not accusing God of bringing about harsh and devastating blows in order to knock us down and break our arms in the process.
No! No! No!
In Psalm 119:67, 71, 75 it says:
"I used to wander off until you disciplined me;
but now I closely follow your word.
My suffering was good for me,
for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees.
I know, O Lord, that your regulations are fair.
You disciplined me because I needed it.
WHEN WE ARE "THROWN A CURVEBALL"
How do we respond when we are "thrown a curveball" and everything we carefully planned out and prepared for suddenly takes a turn we did not expect?
David did not view afflictions/disciplines as disaster. He saw it as a form of correction - something to adjust his life. He was saying, “Before I was afflicted/disciplined I went astray and I suffered for it. Now I've learned my lesson! It pays to obey your word!”
ARE YOU IN THE MIDDLE OF DIFFICULTY, LOSS, OR AN ADJUSTMENT?
May I caution you? Don't fight back! And whatever you do, do not argue with God! Admit that God is dealing with you and allowing an affliction/a disciplining, a difficulty or disappointment, to address major issues of stubbornness, lazy spirituality, dependence upon others for water from the word, and more than often - a sour and willful independence that does not like accountability in every area.
ASK HIM, "WHAT IS IT THAT YOU ARE DOING?"
“God? Am I off the pathway that you have planned and have willfully gone my own way?”
The Lord is seeking, looking, longing for you to turn away from things that are harmful and to bring you back to things that are in his purpose and plan.
If we are willing to learn from these afflictions/disciplines, there will come a time when we will indeed look back with gratitude for the things we have learned and matured in.
My dear friends, we were not created to serve ourselves or to meet our own needs. Whatever we need, the Lord will see to it that we get it, as we move along the pathway that he has chosen. You may be asking the question, “Why is it so hard for me to hear from the Lord at first when it comes to difficult issues and decisions?”
We must understand we cannot instantly “unlearn” what we have lived our entire life.
We must as the Scripture says be "transformed" from who we are to what we want to be.
We need to understand with our whole heart that we were intended to be godly in every way. In our relationships with others, and above all, in our relationship with God the father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. If one is out of order then both will be.
But! As a dear brother in the Lord by the name of Larry Reese says,
“We are not to fear the passing of time or fear that we are wasting time by spending time with the Lord, searching out his word, and being still in his presence.
You will never lose anything by doing these things!”
TRENDS, BLOGS, AND COMMENTS
It's no secret that social media has become quite a form of communication! One of the problems that can occur when “listening” to trends, blogs, and commentary from others is that sources quoted and information gathered might well be skewed to interject thoughts and opinions into the minds of those who never think for themselves.
Believers in Christ are not to be uninformed, but they are to be wise about what they “ingest and digest” when it comes to the lifestyle of a Christian.
Do not rely upon the wisdom of men to help you to ultimately reach the destiny that God himself paid the price for. He is not an ego- driven maniac looking for his entourage of followers to validate his importance!
He "paid it forward" so that we would have the opportunity to walk upon a pathway, although narrow, that leads to purposeful living and a fruitful reaping of productivity that will only advance us into further opportunities to speak of hope and a purpose for others.
BEWARE OF FALSE HUMILITY AND UNDERTONES OF DISDAIN
If there were one thing that sickens the heart of God it would be underhanded and slippery craftiness oozing from those who resist the full aspect of allowing God to create in them a clean and contrite heart.
It always amazes me how individuals that need notoriety and a place of “mystical” influence seem to be able to cunningly discredit good and godly saints around them who have perhaps lovingly warned them about deceptive practices or micro-management control issues, knowing that they risk the loss of relationship when doing so.
It is as if these individuals secretly feel entitled to sidestep the issue of preferring your brother or sister, and humbly listening to their insights and observances.
Equally amazing, are those who listen to only one side of a conflict or disagreement, and then spiritualize-away the facts that harm or discord has happened.
And so, the Lord allows the difficulties and afflictions to come and expose the areas of favoritism, embracing the “new and exciting”…
…Rather than the narrow and at times - dry pathway to mature godliness.
There will always be among us, those claiming to have “THE” word of the hour, the “message of the forefathers”, and on and on the platitudes and justifications are listed to justify the mocking and putting down of the simple and unique message of self-abandonment.
LISTEN FOR THE SOUND OF MERCY
Listen to the “tone” in the voice of those addressing the crowd, the congregation, or perhaps a small study group. False humility has a highly "honeyed" pitch of barely restrained condescension, laced with heavy doses of unsolicited advice and counsel.
Rarely will individuals who have an exaggerated view of their own importance allow others to warmly and intimately engage in transparent communication and dialogue regarding the unique and yet equal calling and gifting of each child of God.
NOW IS THE TIME -- THE TIME IS NOW!
These words have been spoken out from the Lord over the lives of many who seemingly can hardly lift their heads due to delays, betrayals, losses, and a deep, deep internal anguish. It seems as if God sees greater fruitfulness when we are at the bottom of the proverbial "barrel"!
Those who are forever wishfully proclaiming that the “bad times are over and good times are ahead” are sadly attempting to override the ache of the soul when it longs to return to the comfort zone of self indulgence.
“But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless!” -Jeremiah 7:8
Know this. To avoid the chastening and bruising of our souls is a guarantee that not only will you cause devastating and brutal pain to others, but also most importantly, you shall grieve the Holy Spirit.
I ENCOURAGE THOSE OF YOU READING AND LISTENING,
TO TEST THE FRUIT OF THOSE WHO CLAIM TO HAVE
A SPECIAL AND MYSTICAL "IN" WITH THE LORD.
The Lord is not one who neither “excludes” nor leaves the broken out in the cold, nor does he invite into his inner courts of wisdom and revelation, those who would use it to their own personal advantage or fame.
IT IS TIME. NOW IS THE TIME! THE TIME IS NOW!
It is time to face the chastening of the Lord in the light of the purpose he has behind it. Growing up and maturing finally in the things he has been dutifully prodding you to do for a long time now.
PROCRASTINATION FELLOWSHIPS WITH SLOTHFUL AND SLOPPY APPROACHES
TO RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND WITH MANKIND.
For once and for all make the decision to not blame-shift or deflect onto others what God is dealing with in the wickedness of your own soul.
Now is the time to be willing to lose your life, to be afflicted -- yes even to the point of having the Lord remove and expose those who have become disobedient, self-promoting, and abusive in the circles you walk within.
“SEE TO IT that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” Colossians 2:8
OPEN YOUR EARS
The Lord is speaking! Listen!
He has wisdom to impart to you that may well save and instruct others who might fall into foolish behavior. It is not about your comfort, your "wants" nor even your dignity! It’s about a willingness to be the servant of the Savior, and to emulate His example.
He Is Speaking....
...But are we listening?
“The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue,
To know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning, Wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.”
Isaiah 50:4
Duplication and sharing of this writing is welcomed as long as that complete source,
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for Mary Lindow is included.
Thank You
Copyright © 2019 THE MESSENGER " ~ Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
www.globalprayerrooms.com
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Thursday Apr 28, 2016
Thursday Apr 28, 2016
"THE GREATEST ENEMY TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH"
DEMEANING ANOTHER GENERATION OF LEADERS
by MaryLindow
It is highly recommended that you listen to the
audio version/podcast of this message and join in with
the prayers lifted up on behalf of the Body of Christ
There is a dangerous trend blooming much like a dandelion in the body of Christ that needs to literally be nipped in the root, and in no way approached with a cowering spirit! Somehow it's now a trending youthful "call from God" to be a cutting edge voice that is sent to “correct” the current Fathers and Mothers in the body of Christ. Hmmmm.....
I DON'T CARE HOW POPULAR OR TRENDY ANY MOVEMENT IS or any individual who is a gifted speaker is. If they have been given the privilege to address the body of Christ on any stage, in any pulpit, in any gathering, they are to be judged and held accountable by those in leadership for their actions and their choices when they speak to others.
I AM ADDRESSING SPECIFIC SITUATIONS where a young-(ish) man or woman is allowed to speak in a meeting and begins to demand that the crowd responds according totheir commands.
There should NEVER be even the hint of demeaning another generation of leaders publicly, or a shaming and finger-pointing message aimed at somehow "breaking the people" and getting them to be stirred up to do something. Whatever that"something" might be, if people are shamed into action, then it is truly not God's will or God's plan.
WHO GET’S TO ADDRESS PEOPLE FROM THE PODIUM? There's a lot to be said about not quickly allowing a novice or newcomer to your team to have absolute access to speak into the hearts of those who gather to hear of the specific (and most hopefully) -GOD ORDAINED vision that you, as a leader, have been commissioned and assigned to serve and honor! In 1 Kings 12 - Rehoboam rejected the advice of the "older men" who had stood with Solomon, listening instead to the "young men who grew up with him". It divided the Kingdom. HEAR that.
Pride can cause a novice who is actually termed "a new planting" meaning, “still not having put down roots”, to defend themselves and their more "potent" message. Pride can cause them to look down on others. If you allow it, pride will rob them ofthe most treasured mentoring relationships in their lives.
WHEN ANOTHERGENERATION MOCKS THE WORDS OF GOD Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some childish boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here you old bald man!” He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled the forty-two the boys.
2 Kings 2:23
THE WORD FOR"CHILDREN" IN THIS VERSE IS TRANSLATED AS PERSONS OF THIRTY ORFORTY YEARS OF AGE and, though these are called "little", they were so well grown as to be able to go out of the city by themselves without anyone to guide them, or to take care of them and they were at an age capable not only of taking notice of Elijah's baldness, but knew he was a prophet. They were able to know what good and evil was and, from a malicious spirit inside of them, they mocked at him. Some Jewish writers say they were called "Naarim", which means"children” because they had shaken off the bond that was keeping people close, the commandments, and "little", because they were of little faith:
THEY MOCKED HIM, AND SAID TO HIM, “GO UP, YOU BALD HEAD! GO UP, YOU OLD BALDY!” Meaning, not up the hill to Bethel, where his coming was not really welcomed since most of the people were idol worshippers, and maybe these children were sent out to intimidate him with their jeers to keep him from entering the city! They had heard about Elijah going up to heaven so they jeeringly told him to go up to heaven after him, and then they would have gotten rid of them both! “Who needs that old man telling us what to do?!”
At the same time that they were mocking him for his baldness, and making a funny story of the wondrous works of God, the taking up into heaven of Elijah, which by behaving so disrespectfully to a “White hairedhead”, a prophet of the Lord, was terribly wicked, and therefore opened thedoor to an external attack from a destructive force. Two full-grown she-bears, who consumed them.
Folks, there are consequences for mockery and deception!
BEFORE AMAN OR WOMAN CAN LOOK DOWN ON ANOTHER, they must first assume he or she is better than the person they are speaking against. A proud man or woman is suspicious of everyone else. A humble man or woman is more suspicious of their own heart than anyone else. The proud heart will detect defects in others before him. But a humble soul sees the evil in his/her own heart before they see evil in others.
CONCEITAND PRIDE ARE THE GREATEST ENEMIES TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH! Newly acquired knowledge often leads to pride rather than wisdom. This is often true with the novice. There is no surer way to fall into sin than to allow pride to lead us into putting confidence in ourselves rather than God. This type of pride always leads to destruction, because it robs us of God’s power to stand against temptation.
WHAT WEACCOMPLISH AS MEMBERS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS DONE BY THE POWER OF GOD. The novice begins thinking that what he/she accomplishes is his/her own doing. The people in Corinth had been developed in every way as well, with the knowledge of God, but pride in what they knew was about to lead to their destruction!
KNOWLEDGECAN BE MISTAKEN FOR MATURITY, but true knowledge is designed to bring us TO maturity. When we parade our freedom before others in an effort to reveal how much we know, we reveal our immaturity and are treading on dangerous ground! Knowledge put on PUBLIC display leads to revelry and scattering.
TRUE KNOWLEDGE BRINGS THE RESTFUL DISCIPLINE OF SELF-CONTROL. Paul’s knowledge ofGod led him to lead a disciplined life for the benefit of himself and others. HUMBLING OURSELVES IS THE ONLY WAY TO GET THE ROOF OFF TOWARD GOD, AND THE WALLS DOWN TOWARD OUR FELLOW MAN.
Once offences have been committed, whether intentional or unintentional, they must be dealt with! “I was wrong. I am sorry. Will you forgive me?” are healing words that only a humble soul would use. Whenever you find a man or woman willing to humble themselves before God and man, you have found a person who will be exalted, because “humility comes before honor.”
REMEMBER THAT SOME MEN’S SINS ARE OBVIOUS, AND ARE EQUALLY OBVIOUSLY BRINGING THEM TO SERIOUS JUDGMENT.
"The sins of other men might not be apparent, but are dogging them, nevertheless, under the surface. Similarly some virtues are plain to see,while others, though not at all conspicuous, will eventually make themselves felt."
1Timothy 5:24-25
"Don’t reprimand or publicly talk downto a senior leader in your church, honoring him as a father by first showing respect and humility. Treat the young men kindly as brothers, and the olderwomen as nurturing mothers. Treat the younger women as sisters, and nothingmore."
1 Timothy 5:1-2
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Thank You Copyright © 2016
“THE MESSENGER” ~Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
www.globalprayerrooms.com
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Wednesday May 21, 2014
Wednesday May 21, 2014
TO LISTEN TO THIS MESSAGE AS A FREE PODCAST PLEASE USE THE AUDIO BUTTON AND CLICKBy Mary Lindow
I was packing up a box for shipping in the mail and had
turned it over to be sure that I had used enough sealing tape to secure the
contents in the box. As I began to apply the sealing tape, my eyes were drawn
to the simple statement printed on the bottom of the box put there
intentionally by the company that manufactures the packing boxes.
It read; " T H I
N K B I G - A C T L
I T T L E "
RIGHT THEN THE LORD
SPOKE TO ME IN GREAT INTENSITY.
He gently said, "Child,
the past mentality and insidious mind set of many in ministry has been the
direct opposite of the statement; "THINK BIG - ACT LITTLE." Man is
still obsessed with power, control, and is driven by the desire to be the biggest
and the best. This has crept into the church through a message of
self-gratification, and an implied sense of "you deserve it" spoken
through many who don't THINK BIG about the consequences of their words!
So many believers
think that they have a right to "Big things" but want it all to happen through
others doing for them honoring them, and therefore their concern and
"actions" in considering others service and faithfulness is minimal.
The current attitude
heaven is hearing from among not only many disobedient believers but also sadly
among many who think they are in the "forefront" of the wave of My
Spirit is in fact, a reversal of the statement, Think Big Act little.”
THINK LITTLE...ACT
BIG!This is the mindset of the selfish and those trapped in
patterns of deceit and personal denial!
AS LONG AS WE DON'T
TAKE THE TIME TO EXAMINE OUR OWN SOULS,
Which we well know, can be very wicked, we never think about
how our “ACTING BIG” and “all
anointed and all powerful” and how "on the cutting edge" we might
be!
THE LORD INSTRUCTED
ME WITH A FIRM BUT GENTLE WARNING,
about those who are trying to "re-package" the
same old way of doing things the way they want it done in a different box or presentation.
It's like the statement "THINK LITTLE - ACT BIG."
PUSHING AWAY THE CONVICTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS
DANGEROUS.
The Lord is in this present hour is granting us much
precious time to deal with the hidden sins and iniquities that are well fed and
functioning in each of our lives. Ministry leaders, apostles, prophets, pastors,
teachers, evangelists, sheep. Sadly, many seem to believe that if they just “THINK
LITTLE - AND - “ACT BIG” well, others
will be really impressed with the BIG Show and BIG Presentation and we won't
have to think about or question our motives and manipulations as to why we need
to keep feeding the “BIG ACT!”
GODLESSNESS IN THE
LAST DAYS
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last
days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud,
abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love,
unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous,
rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-- having a form
of godliness but denying its power.
HAVE NOTHING TO DO
WITH THEM.
They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain
control over weak-willed women, (men as well!) who are loaded down with sins
and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to
acknowledge the truth.
2 Timothy
MANY TIMES THE BODY
OF CHRIST IS FOUND TO BE CHASING AFTER MIRACLES AND SIGNS AND WONDERS…
…In order to get a new thing to happen in your church or
community. It is THINKING LITTLE. You have trained yourself and others to
pursue God, only if blessings and miracles occur. But when hardship and testing
and refining occur it's easier to “THINK LITTLE” about these.
Why?
THE FLESH HATES
DISCIPLINE AND TRUTH!
With every wave and Dimension of Glory the Lord releases,
there is always the crowd of the 5000 looking for a good free meal, a good
public speaker, and a few miracles. These days toss in a "new groovy
worship ministry" and you've arrived!
HOWEVER! When the real work of God is getting close, the
numbers drastically reduce and those who are not willing to extort others or
use others for fame and gain, become again, like a Gideon's army. Rugged,
broken, obedient, and they THINK about the BIG THINGS God can do, but “THEY ACT
LITTLE” or small and humble.
Philippians 2:3
Don't be selfish; don't live to make a good impression on others.Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.
BEWARE OF THOSE WHO
SHOUT TOO LOUDLY;
"HEY! WE HAVE A BIG THING HAPPENING!"
“And you need to come and uh… well, if you really want in on
it, don't think much about the fee of $200 or more to attend what God is
doing!"
DID THAT POKE AT YOUR
SOUL A LITTLE BIT? WELL GOOD!
WE ARE IN A SEASON
WHERE MONEY CHANGING IN THE NAME OF THE LORD'S ANOINTING IS GOING TO BE DEALT
WITH. Just after this paragraph is a small list of a few other
things the Lord has asked me to bring a gentle warning about. Things that He is
going to allow His exposure and His Holy fire to touch, if they are not
personally dealt with through our own choice in repent humbly to Him and to
others we are supposed to have some kind of accountability with.
(You are accountable to someone other than yourself aren't
you? ( hint ) That may be a mentor, a prayer group, a couple or two, maybe a
husband and wife together. But we all must have someone that we share an
account of our lives with.
HE IS GIVING ALL OF
HIS PEOPLE, SHEEP AND LEADERS ALIKE…
…TIME TO THINK - AND ACT.
- GENTLE WARNINGS FROM
THE LORD -
1.) Key Leaders need to become tender towards
those in their service.
Sharing with them as co-laborers and hard workers, fair and
even above and beyond, financial support, honor, and deep respect.
1 Peter 5:3
Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the
flock.
Romans 12:3
Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think
of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God
has given you.
2.) Many in ministry
settings embrace too quickly, those who "appear" to have a large
ministry influence and grant them levels of authority without knowing what
their home life is like, what their accountability levels are, and how they
appropriate ministry funding they gain through travels, conferences or support.
THE LORD URGES THOSE WHO ARE PASTORAL TO
BE CAREFUL ABOUT WHAT THEY EMBRACE
AND BRING INTO THEIR
SHEEPFOLD. PASTORS ARE JUDGED MORE SERIOUSLY.
James 3:1
Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you
know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
Psalm 101:7
I will not allow deceivers to serve me, and liars will not be allowed
to enter my presence.
3.) The Lord warns about slandering others
in ministry or in the general Body of believers, publicly as well as in private
settings. Shaming others is usually a form of control and can often be used to
hide behind, rather than to lovingly confront, a situation.
MANY BOOKS AND MAGAZINE ARTICLES ARE GOING TO BE RELEASED IN THE NEXT
FEW MONTHS.
THEY WILL SLANDER, LIE, AND
EXAGGERATE STORIES ABOUT HOW THE BODY OF CHRIST AND THOSE MEMBERS IN IT HAVE"DONE EACH OTHER WRONG."
This will be a total turn off to the generation that is
watching those who are to be modeling grace, patience, kindness, and
self-control. The Lord warns that once the doors of your mouth begin to slander and
shame others He will expose and do unto you what you have done unto others.
Hebrews 4:13 "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is
uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."
Leviticus 19:16
"Do not spread slanderous gossip among your people.
Do not act as a merchant toward your own people.
Do not try to get ahead at the cost of your neighbor's life, for I am
the LORD.
2 Timothy 3:3 - "They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and
have no self-control; They will be cruel and have no interest in what is good."
YOU SEE, WE ARE TO THINK BIG ABOUT THE LOVE OF GOD
AND ACT LITTLE, ACT SMALL …
…ABOUT OURSELVES.
Humility brings honor and favor.
Deceit brings Judgment.
THINK BIG...
...ABOUT THAT.
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included.Thank you. “2014” ©www.marylindow.comwww.globalprayerrooms.com