Some Great thing going on with LAM
Be sure to check out the DVD's that are now available on-line. You can receive your own personal seminar right in your own home. You can laugh, cry, as you receive "truths that set you free." For those in the Sacramento area, we are also now on two cable stations: Sacramento cable - Channel 18; and City of Roseville - cable station. Check the Website for times.
A new book is now offered called, "Revealing Truths." It's a 153 page book of all the teachings provided through LAM - mirrors much of what is on the Web. Individuals have requested this teaching as many don't have the Website and others like to utlize a book rather than reading from the web - it's $24.95.
As always, it is a pleasure serving you in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Simplicity of the Gospel by Linda Lange
I was contemplating while reading a book called, "They're Killing an Innocent Man." About a man who went to India to make a movie depicting the life of Christ, using Indians to play all the parts, making it as authentic as possible. I began thinking about the ministry God has called me into. He showed me that I'm actually teaching the gospel. The whole focus is to restore people to God and his love. And the Holy Spirit spoke and said, "The only reason they have a hard time accepting his love is that they have not yet accepted the forgiveness of their sins." And that is the basic gospel. Jesus came to take away the sins of the world, so then why are we still struggling in the area of guilt, condemnation and fearful of entrusting God completely? Because since we see our own "junk" we wonder how a God could love us, really. It's because we haven't believed nor received all that Jesus did on the Cross. There is a scripture that says God does not judge! But we treat him as a judge and will only go to him when we "think" we're doing good. It's all in our head because when we think we are doing good it's an illusion because there is none that doeth good, no not one (Romans).
A friend told me a story. She was cleaning her house, and really did a good job - so she thought. She went into the room and opened the curtains and then saw how dirty her house still was - so much dust, cobwebs and dirt that were hidden when the drapes were closed. As the light shed on the situation she realized that what she thought was clean, really wasn't. I think that's how it is with us. We hide our stuff in our closets thinking we're all cleaned up, but we aren't. We just need to settle down, accept the fact that we aren't perfect nor ever will be, that God has forgiven us for all our imperfectness, and to just get over ourselves, come to him in "knowing and believing" we are clean because of what Jesus has done, not what I have done.
It's been exciting to minister in the area of God's love, but even more exciting to lead people to Christ, those who have never heard of His love as well as those who have. I find that most of those I minister to is toward the believer who has simply forgot to believe! Believe what? That their sins are forgiven. (II Peter 1:9) And we come into fellowship with God intimately when we know this. The whole purpose for our sins to be forgiven is to allow us to come to the Father in Heaven. He demands holiness and sees Jesus as our covering. The Bible says, "Love covers a multitude of sins." Jesus died while we were yet sinners, remember that. And when we finally get that, we have what we need to even love God back, love ourselves and love others as He intended us to. The Bible says "We love him BECAUSE he first loved us (I John 4:19). We cannot even love Him until we first received His love for us! We can't give away what we ourselves don't have.
I've always said, and will continue to say, that everything that happens in our life is to see how much we believe God loves us, and if we truly believe we are forgiven. Then and only then will we be usable by God for His Kingdom. It's not that we "know" a bunch of stuff, received a degree, or even raised in a Christian Faith, it's all about our heart condition.
I was listening to the Bible on tape and was into Job's life. We all know the story of Job, but let me share something you may not have seen before. Job was tested, just like any of us would be, to see if he really believed God. Well, in the last several chapters, Job was saying some things about God that was not true. It almost seemed like Job was angry at God. He was being tested beyond every test, because I realized that the greater the test, the greater the deliverance and blessing afterwards. So then when God finally visited Job and asked, "Who is this person who is speaking without knowledge." (Job 38:2) This was Job's reply - a reply that actually brought to end his suffering and opened up all the blessings - and that was, "I repent from all that I said." (Job 42:7). And if you read on, almost immediately after Job repented (42 chapters later - how long of a time span we don't' know but it looks like he suffered for some time), God took vengeance on those that opposed Job and restored more to Job that what was first lost! We are always taught that Job was a just man, and was tried and received a blessing for enduring. But we need to read between the lines. Job was just but still had "stuff" in his heart God wanted purged; Fear, Pride, Arrogance, and Self-reliance. See God knew Job and what was in his the same as he knows us and what is in us. The only difference is that once Job finally came clean before God and confessed his heart, God restored Him. Job knew God loved Him and would forgive him. We need to know the same, so that after words we may be healed and restored and blessed beyond our own imagination.
What is Truth? by Pete Plitt
Pilate had no doubt heard many so called truths in his political career. When Jesus presented the comment of bearing witness to the truth, Pilate asked the question, "What is truth?" If born in the Orient, sitting in front of a shrine chanting a mantra is truth. For others, witch doctors "healing" the sick and injured are common place. Even if we stay within the confines of Christian beliefs, one's truth is praying in tongues, while another's says it has past away with the Apostles. So, what is truth?
From the menagerie of teachings promoted as Gospel, my own heart's cry is simple, "Give me my day in court!" If I am to fall short of God's promises, don't let it be because I was taught some doctrine of men that kept me blind to available victory. If I am instructed in the truth that makes free and then choose foolishly to ignore it, then bad on me. At least I was given opportunity and the consequences are my own. But please don't subject me to the empty words of good intentions. Don't tell me that God uses teaching methods like sickness and tragedy that if I used on my kids, would get me thrown in jail! Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. [John 17:17]
The devil is a whipped foe. Jesus made sure of that. But we are just kidding ourselves if we think that the same creature that neutralized the perfect creation, Adam and Eve, destroyed the minds of an entire world of Noah's day, turned the very Priests and Lawmakers ordained by God into the instrument of death concerning our Savior, and will in the future gather an innumerable crowd to fight against Jesus AFTER they had just experienced 1000 years of peace under the hand of this same Jesus, that this creature doesn't know what he is doing. He's at it 24/7. Since his authority over us was stripped from him at the cross, he has to get that authority through elaborate scheming from the one who now has it - us! Luke 10:19 "Behold, I give unto you power [authority, jurisdiction] to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power [ability, miraculous force] of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." We have been given authority over all the devil's ability. He thoroughly understands this, even if we don't.
As under studies of our Master, we were told to "go," with signs following, confirming the Word as in Mark 16:17-18, "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall THEY cast out devils; THEY shall speak with new tongues; THEY shall take up serpents; and if THEY drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; THEY shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. Of course God is the juice behind the "they," but much of the doctrine of today wants to get God to come down out of heaven and take action.
Romans10:6-10 "But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath [past tense] raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
The cross is a completed work. The word of faith is not in trying to get Jesus back down out of heaven or to be raised again from the dead, but is in our mouth and hearts. You speak to your mountain. Jesus has done everything He is going to do and is waiting for His enemy to be made His footstool. If we are His body, then we are the feet that should be on His enemy. "In His name" that Mark 16 talks about is not just articulating a sentence structure with Jesus' name in it, but is also a position we reside in, that is, being IN HIM, in His authority, His representatives, His contact point to others. Instead, all too often people review a tragedy in their lives and say in effect, "If God is so Almighty, then why did He let this happen?" "Jesus, come down here and fix this."
Again, He has done everything necessary to equip us to win. Part of enjoying the blessings of His grace is also bearing the responsibility of speaking to the mountain. It may be a hard truth, but God allows what we allow. Why is that good news? Because that means there is something we can intentionally do to implement the victory of Christ given to us. This is the Truth that sets free, the truth of authority that Pilate never witnessed until Jesus stood before him. It's not a "fault" thing, it's a "responsibility" thing. We've all messed up in the arena of faith, but as in Prov. 24:16 . . .a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again. "Just," keep getting up!
There is a bracelet worn by some of the church youth. It reads, W.W.J.D. or What Would Jesus Do?" At the next encounter with a faith obstacle, instead of trying to get God to add to His already completed work, ask what Jesus would do if standing next to you. If the first thing that pops into your head is, "Yeah, but He's Jesus," you have just identified a devil doctrine that says He can, but you can't. John 14:12 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." Certainly the source of power that undoes the work of the devil is God, but as His vessels, we are to pour Him out on others in the same and greater works. To labor to enter His rest, to be conformed to His image, to work the greater works, is simply to emulate the Nature of Christ in us.How do we conform to His image? Acts 17:10-11 records, "And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." The teacher who wrote most of the New Testament didn't say, "Hey, wait a minute, don't you know that I'm the greatest teacher of our century?" "Don't you believe I know truth?" Instead, he praised the Bereans as "more noble" because they not only received, but then searched the scriptures DAILY for themselves. Should we do any less? And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. [John 8:32 ]
Kingdom of God! By Linda
Isn't it interesting that after Jesus rose from the grave He spent 40 days talking about the Kingdom of God! (Acts 1:3) This tells me that learning about the Kingdom of God is a crucial part of being a believer. What exactly is the Kingdom of God? Romans 14:17 say it is Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost. We have to dive into what these things are for our lives personally. First and foremost, we cannot attain any of these things without the Holy Ghost. Many for centuries have tried to gain it on their own, but the truth is, we cannot! That's where many people feel like failures because they are trying to do it themselves. We cannot do anything Righteous without the power of the Holy Spirit doing it through us. Anything we "do" that is good and right comes from God. The bible says that our righteousness is as filthy rags. (Romans >>>) No matter how wonderful we think we have become, we have to remember all that comes from the Righteousness of God. The other part of that is to know you ARE the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ. We have right standing with God as believers. As we stop trying to gain righteousness and just RECEIVE it, we will then understand what it means to have Righteousness. Peace comes from Jesus. A relationship with Jesus intimately. Jesus is our Peace. Peace of mind is greatly needed in lives today. The Word of God calms us. Peace comes that passes all understanding. But we can't make peace happen, it happens to us when we know we are the Righteousness of God. Because then we KNOW we don't have to "do" a bunch of stuff to be righteousness! Then joy comes. It's an attribute of the peace we get within!
We all need to do a personal study on Righteousness, Peace and Joy. I encourage you to open your Bible and use a concordance to look up every scripture in the Bible that relates to these 3 words. Find out what God says about them. As you read them, ask God to give you a deep revelation. It's only when we get a revelation about them that they drop into our spirit. Head knowledge is just that - it's all in the head. There are enough people running around with head knowledge. We need more people walking in heart knowledge. It becomes part of us. It's who we are.
And interestingly enough, once we begin learning about these areas, no matter what you "think" you have learned or begin getting revelation in, never forget that it's not you. It's the Holy Spirit working it in you. That's why this scripture reads, "The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink but Righteousness, Peace and Joy IN the Holy Ghost." If it was something we had to obtain ourselves and do ourselves, "In the Holy Ghost" would not have been part of that scripture.
If you are like me, I read something God tells me to do in scripture, but then I run out and try to "do" it. But the truth of the matter is that scripture is telling us what God will do in our lives. Our job is still the same. Believe (John 6:29). We do our part and go will do all the other stuff. The stuff that we have tried so hard to attain, but can only be attained by believing! Hey, I just gave you a clue on how to have more peace!
A thought: "When we take care of our bodies we are investing into the Kingdom of God."
Tom's TidBits
"I know why we have drug abuse."
People want to change their world so using drugs, etc., alters that existence and does it fast. It's like people who want to lose weight, when doing it fast they will always have problems. Same with weight lifters, those who want to gain muscle fast use steroids, and pay for that later.
Doing well is slow and gradual; not doing well is fast and quick.
The Body is a Living Miracle! By Linda
One morning Tom and I were talking about how our bodies are such miracles. He was saying that it's amazing how we can feel a tiny ant crawling up our leg. And I then thought about that and saw something very amazing. I said, "It's even more a miracle that our bodies even function, they shouldn't." Tom said, "Yeah, we don't have a battery." Then I said, "Our soul is our battery." What I realized is that our soul is what keeps our body alive! When our soul leaves, our body dies. So it's truly important that our soul get free! Yes, it is saved if we are Christians, but now has to be continually purged and clean so that our bodies function properly!
I hope you have enjoyed this month's newsletters. See you next time!