From: jesus_is_lord To: List Member Subject: He made darkness his secret place. Date: Tuesday, December 12, 2000 7:32 AM jesus_is_lord =========================== ListBot Sponsor ========================== Cut paperwork! Be more productive! Automate your office INSTANTLY with Freeworks Deluxe. Online automation for time cards, expense reports, invoices, and much more! Get customized templates to slash data entry, automatic reminder messages - Integrates with QuickBooks too! http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/Freeworks ====================================================================== Dear CHRISTIAN Friend: Greetings in the name of the ONLY wise God and Saviour Jesus Christ. In our weekly Bible study we are going through the book of Acts, an exciting book which chronicles the primitive church. It is also a model of what the church should be like today--boldly witnessing of Jesus Christ without guile. At last week's study (12-6-00), something stood out to me as we read the word of life. In Acts 22 Paul is rehearsing his Damascus experience. Ananias said unto him, in part-- Acts 22:14 ...The God of our fathers hath CHOSEN thee, THAT THOU SHOULDEST KNOW HIS WILL, and SEE that Just One, and shouldest HEAR the voice of his mouth. 22:15 For THOU SHALT BE HIS WITNESS unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. As this scripture was read out loud, it occured to me how amazing this is in my own life. Amazing that-- **I actually KNOW the will of the Lord, **I SEE Him through faith's eye (He is BEAUTIFUL), **I HEAR His voice; and, **That I am HIS WITNESS. **************SHROUDED IN DARKNESS****************** I did not always know the will of the Lord. I did not always know His voice. I was not always His witness. There was a time that I was IGNORANT and BLINDED by the devil. While we read Acts 22:14-15 at Bible study, a thought came to me-- When I was serving the devil, GOD HID HIMSELF FROM ME. The scripture that came to mind was-- Psalms 18:11 HE MADE DARKNESS HIS SECRET PLACE; HIS PAVILION round about him were DARK WATERS and THICK CLOUDS of the skies. When I was in the motions of sins, I could not see the Lord or His ways. He was enshrouded in an impenetrable curtain. Blacker than the blackest cave. I lived in a cold, hard world because the face of the Lord was hid from me. He does not sit there smiling on you when you are sinning. He hides His holy face from you and your ways. He made darkness His secret place towards me when I was in sin. His pavilion round about him was dark waters and thick clouds. Did you know that He does the same thing to the disobedient today? This King James Bible that I hold in my hands can be read by any English-speaking person but it is still enshrouded in darkness to the overwhelming majority of mankind. God and His word are HIDDEN from the wicked and disobedient. For hellbounds reading this, God's face is against you (John 3:36). He is hidden from you just as He was hidden from me. You may have subscribed to this email list, but you don't understand 1% of what you read. Vile and wretched, I could only offend Jesus in thought, word and deed. Did you know that the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest? Whose waters cast up mire and dirt? (see Is 57:20) Everytime I moved, I was stirring up dirt, and sin and trouble. I was in the motions of sins. Anytime I made plans, I did not consult or consider God. I ignored Him in EVERYTHING. I CONTINUALLY disobeyed the GREATEST COMMANDMENT IN THE BIBLE-- Matthew 22:36 Master, WHICH is the GREAT commandment in the law? 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with ALL thy heart, and with ALL thy soul, and with ALL thy mind. 22:38 This is the first and great commandment. O wretch of wretches! I did not love the Lord. I hated Him. I was His enemy. I was the enemy of all righteousness. I was the servant of sin--I loved sin and did his bidding. How offensive I was to a holy God! I hated God's way and I served the devil! The devil himself! Satan! I spurned the God of heaven. The Just One. The Holy One. The Righteous One. The One who was WATCHING all the motions of my sins. O horror of horrors as I think of how exceeding evil that spectacle must have been! It would have been justice to cut me down like I cut down weeds and kill flies. It would have been justice to put my carcas in hell which is the holding pen for criminals. The lake of fire is where they do their "hard time". I would have deserved every burnin' hot flame. *************PULLING BACK THE SHROUD********************** BUT, HALLELUJAH, LOOK AT MY GOD-- Psalms 103:8 The LORD is MERCIFUL AND GRACIOUS, slow to anger, and PLENTEOUS IN MERCY. 103:9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. 103:10 HE HATH NOT DEALT WITH US AFTER OUR SINS; NOR REWARDED US ACCORDING TO OUR INIQUITIES. 103:11 For AS THE HEAVEN IS HIGH ABOVE THE EARTH SO GREAT IS HIS MERCY TOWARD THEM THAT FEAR HIM. 103:12 AS FAR AS THE EAST IS FROM THE WEST, SO FAR HATH HE REMOVED OUR TRANSGRESSIONS FROM US. 103:13 LIKE AS A FATHER PITIETH HIS CHILDREN, so the LORD PITIETH THEM THAT FEAR HIM. 103:14 For HE KNOWETH OUR FRAME; HE REMEMBERETH that we are dust. In 1991, in response to the Father's drawing, I fled to King Jesus for refuge from the terrors of sin and evil. Nothing in my hand did I bring. Nothing. I could only PLEAD for His mercy. There was no reason for Him to accept me. I don't deserve Christ or His sacrifice. I do not. But I can tell you that I AM GLAD FOR JESUS! I THANK GOD FOR JESUS! THANK YOU, LORD! God chose me to be a witness unto Him. That is why you are reading this email right now. Every real Christian reading this email can say that God hath chosen him to be a witness unto Him. Are you on the job? In 1991, I feared before the name of the Lord and I entered into the kingdom of God through blood and water. I was born again. With my first birth, I entered into this world through my mother's blood and the water of the placenta. With my second birth, I entered into the kingdom of God through the blood of Jesus and the waters of baptism (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God). You see, Jesus cleansed me two ways-- (1) Jesus cleansed me WITHIN with the water--HE CLEANSED MY CONSCIENCE--He cleansed my mind, my conscience towards God. I WANT God and reject sin and the devil. Now, I KEEP the greatest commandment. I LOVE THE LORD GOD! I seek to do His will in ALL things. He is in ALL my thoughts. When I sin against Him, I am GRIEVED. I shun sin and serve God. (2) Jesus cleansed me WITHOUT with the blood--HE ATONED FOR THE MANY SINS I COMMITTED--there were sins that had to be paid for. The sins whether thought, word or deed were the outworking of my defiled conscience. The High Priest of our profession went into the holy of holies in heaven with His OWN blood. Without shedding of blood there is no remission. O this GREAT work of redemption! Jesus came not by water only, but by water and blood. When was born again in 1991, the King of glory pulled back the shroud that hid His face from me. The Master now bids me to "Come and dine". He bids me to enjoy Him. He bids me to embrace Him in His fulness. To gaze upon Him in the beauty of His holiness. I embrace ALL that He is and ALL that His word says and have found Him to be a Husband beyond description-- Isaiah 54:5 For THY MAKER IS THINE HUSBAND; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. Christian friend, meditate on what it means that King Jesus is the Bridegroom and the church is the bride. Meditate on the institution of marriage. Then think about Jesus (Groom) and you (bride). Be good looking to Jesus by keeping His commandments. Then in your earthly marriage, be all that the Bible says you should be. Husband, love your wife as Christ loved the church. Wife, submit to your husband as the church submits to Christ. Your home will be a home of peace and others will behold your marriage and glorify God on your behalf. The goal is to exalt, magnify and extol the name and doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ. ******************PROTECTION*********************** There is so much to thank and praise God for. Unseen hands have protected me from the day I was conceived in my mother's womb. They protected me through all the years in the wilderness of sin. King Jesus protected me and strove with me even when I was at my most rebellious. I am learning to do the same with the people King Jesus sends my way. Now that I have been washed, how can I be the servant of sin? How can I live and not think about the Lord? Impossible! Many of today's arm-chair theologians would call me a heretick, but the Bible calls me right. We must read the Bible with clear eyes, not pre-taught, lined-up sentences from a text book. A man either serves sin or he serves Jesus. There is no in-between. What communion hath light and darkness, Christ and Belial? Many people are playing around. They go to church, claim Christ with their mouth and live like the devil's kingdom. They are playing. As I heard one preacher say, "If you want to play, go to Toys R Us. Don't play with God." **************CONCLUSION************************ Annanias told Saul-- Acts 22:16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. In other words, now that you've got your sight back and know what you are supposed to do, GET UP, WASH OFF the old filth, and GET STARTED calling on Jesus and serving Him. The exhortation remains the same to this day. May we suffer the word of exhortation. for Jesus' sake, sis. tracy -- http://www.jesus-is-lord.com ...I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD. And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. Ezekiel 2:4, 6 ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to jesus_is_lord-unsubscribe@listbot.com