Dear Friends,
Last week, Nita spoke briefly and then lead us in intercession over our Nation's heart before God. Friday, she shared precious nuggets she's learned in her walk with God, nuggets that will help us prepare ourselves for Union. Let us continue to prepare our hearts for the days ahead, my friends remembering our greatest hope is to draw closer to Him. If you missed Friday's message, or as many of us, long to hear it again, our team will have it uploaded to the Media Log section of our website this week. This message was the first in a series Nita is excited to share with us so stay tuned for more!
Through a generous donation, we were able to purchase a box truck for our CedarWood Pantry. Our team is so excited to begin collecting supplies for the Pantry, Coats & Clothes, and BackPack Kids using our new vehicle. Last year we served almost 11,000 men, women, and children through our CW Pantry and Coats & Clothes Closet. We packed almost 2000 BackPack Kits for children in the Seattle/Skykohomish areas (we provide food during the Summer months as well) and gave out more coats to men, women and children of all sizes than most department stores carry! One of the beautiful things about our BackPack Kids program is that we take the BackPack Kits (and the coats) to their location. They don't have to come to Bethel Chapel if they live too far away or don't have transportation. CedarWood grew exponentially last year, and this truck makes it possible to expand our CedarWood operations to accommodate even more families in 2016! Thank you for continuing to support this arm of our ministry!
A quick reminder, our Kansas, Gathering of the Eagles is not far off. There's less than a month to book your room at the reduced rate.
Kansas City, Gathering of the Eagles, 2016!
DATES: March 15-19, 2016
Please note: due to scheduling with the hotel, this event will run Tuesday - Saturday
Location: Holiday Inn KCI Airport & Expo Center 11728 NW Ambassador Drive Kansas City MO 64153 816-801-8400
Room Rates: King bed - $104.00 2 Queen beds - $114.00 *Room must be booked by 2/10/2016 with group code: Gathering of the Eagles to receive this rate.
Schedule: 9:30-1:30 and 6:30-10:30PM (subject to change) Pre-registration Link!
Below is the next section in 12 Pillars; "Love" I pray it prepares you for the days ahead.
Blessings & Love,
Ricci Wilson
__________________________________________
Please continue to pray over our finances. We've got many outreaches for you to choose from. All donations are tax deductible. _________________________________________________
12 Pillars of God
“Love”
Session 2
Part - B
By
Nita Johnson
Transcription of New Orleans Teaching
From last week: There is only one thing that can determine where you are spiritually, and that is the level of divine love you walk in. Not how much you're loved, but how much you love. Not how much people give to you but how much you give to others. You are a mature son of God when you have learned to walk the way Christ walked. Until then, we are growing and learning and thank God He gives us a lifetime to do so!
What helps is your knowledge of Jesus—not how many times you’ve seen Him, but your knowledge of Him. It's not your head knowledge but rather, your heart knowledge. This knowledge fills your soul— it is the knowledge that you gained through the battles, the storms, through seeking and dying to the flesh daily.
Brothers and sisters, I want you to want this so badly you stop settling for anything less. You can walk in this level of love. I want to ignite a passion within to fight for what God wants for you. For those of you who are new at this, you might not be able to make sense of this right now. Those who have been around for a while—you understand what I am saying. Don’t choose the mundane over what God wants you to have in this life. You’re given choices every day. God knows that you have things you have to do and fulfill. You have jobs and families you have to care for, and God knows where you are. Each thing you do provides a place to invite Him into you. Let your heart cry out to Him; Lord, I want to experience You here, the way You are, what You think and feel and what You know! Transform me in this Lord.
Time is drawing to a close, and a He’s going to take a Church matured by His spirit—beautiful in His sight; a Church that has paid the price through suffering. For some, it will be through much suffering. Whether we suffered in this life, or we didn't isn’t the issue; the issue is whether we became like Him.
Love endures long. Paul learned that lesson; he knew the Lord of that lesson, and it is a lesson. As God takes you through the lessons of learning love, you learn to endure. You endure and endure some more. It’s like taffy candy; you can pull it and stretch it over and over—well that’s how your heart is supposed to be. Pull and stretch. Love is learning endurance. Enduring love does not come overnight, it doesn’t come in a month, a year, five years or even ten. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it did?
"Lord, give me Your love now!" How many times do I have to pray this prayer? I’ve prayed this fifty times in the last week alone. Enduring until the privilege of loving is more important to you than any offenses that the object of your affection could throw at you. It becomes a joy to forgive because it means you don’t have to lose love. If you hold onto bitterness, then you lose love. If you hold onto unforgiveness, you lose love. You learn that it is a joy to forgive, and you want to because you want the grace and privilege to endure. Love when the object of your affection is not what they could be. We never want love to turn into sin, and when it is a human love, it does turn sin. However, when the love it is pure, undefiled, and demonstrates the love of God, then it is enduring.
What is coming to the Body of Christ is liquid love. God is going to pour out raindrops of love upon His Church. Consider this: how many of you have gone into a service where the love of God is so overwhelming you can hardly bear it? A week later an outrageous thing occurs, and you are as full of the flesh as you ever were. Why? Because the soul is undisciplined and this place has not been prepared for the magnanimity of His love.
The soul must be taught by the Spirt of God and learn to endure discipline, and the grace of God will strengthen it. God will take you through the lessons—He is an excellent educator. Job asked, “Who is a teacher like Him?” He takes you from one circumstance to another to teach you the love that He wants to give you, so that when He does place that incredible deposit within your soul, it can remain. Otherwise, you continue your whole life being touched by the love of God on one day, only to find it gone a few days later. For some, it’s only one day. I'm sure you've experienced it at least once; God comes and wipes you out in the midst of a service. You leave thinking you are the most spiritual person in the world because of what He did. He abolished the soul; finally, you are delivered of self, and you love everybody. Then, the next morning reality sets in, and He works to make a place while you are making decisions. He—the Master Builder is making a place through your decisions to house His grace.
Now, I’m sure you’ve gone through these seasons where you walk away reiterating how you will love, even in the presence of jerks. The flesh warring against the spirit, the spirit warring against the flesh and we cry out for grace. Those lessons are important and when you fail don’t get angry with yourself. God is still stretching you; you’re learning endurance. He is strengthening your soul by the power of His Spirit—you are learning. Be thankful for these lessons. Learn to thank Him for all trials—that is not heretical teaching. I’m not teaching you something that the heresy hunters are going to come after. Thank Him for all things because, in every experience, He is teaching you valuable lessons. The devil may come your way, flogging you for all you're worth. Fight! That’s okay, fight him! Still, in the midst of it all, thank God because He is teaching you the lessons that are going to bring you deeper in Him and strengthen you in the power of His grace for the days ahead.
Love endures long; love is patient and kind. When Paul had his big dispute with Barnabas, I wonder if he ever looked back and asked, “Was I patient? Was I kind? Did I lose a good friend for no reason?” Then he wrote to the Corinthians; love is patient, and love is kind. If you ever lose someone valuable in your life, let it never be because you refused to learn love.
People will come and people will go, all for various reasons. Some because God ushers them in and He ushers them out. Some, because they’ve ushered themselves in and they must leave. Some God has ushered in, but they usher themselves out. You never know, but don’t ever let it be, ever, because you refused to learn love. When you look into the eyes of God, you look into the eyes of the Son of God; all you see is a love that runs so deep, it runs through eternity. It is love that is so beautiful you want to look into His eyes forever. Remember that, so the next time you think it’s got to be your way, and there is a chance of losing love over that choice, remember that you want this person to walk away from you remembering the love they saw in your eyes and actions.
Choosing love. This is one of the biggest problems in the Church today; at least the Church in America. One of the major problems here comes because our pastors seek to give a message to encourage while the world is attacking. Perhaps it is to help you feel loved when you’re not feeling loved. They look across their congregation and as pastors, they know they have people who are hurting, and they want to administer grace. Because of this, we don't hear pastors (here in America) standing in the pulpit saying: This is not about how much you're loved; this is not about if you ever were loved. That's not what you’re called to; you’re not called to be loved. You're called to love! In the world is tribulation. You bear the afflictions of the One, Who bore the hardships for you. You’re not here to be loved. If you are too loved, you’re doing something wrong. It’s true. No greater lover ever walked on the face of the earth than Jesus Christ and the multitudes rejected Him. This is not about being loved; this is about learning how to be like Christ, first and foremost, it is about learning Divine love.
Walking in love; every lesson pivots on that one foundation. Will you learn Christ, Who is love? The trials will come, and they must come because it’s the only way to learn love, so if you don’t want trials in your life, give up the notion of learning love. However, if you are determined to learn Christ, be prepared to experience trials. In trials; endure, learn patience, learn kindness. Love is never envious nor boils over with jealousy. It is not boastful or vainglorious. Remember, love.
To be continued next week..
In His Amazing Love,
Nita Johnson
|
