Tuesday, December 24, 2013

For With God Nothing Will Be Impossible



This year I neglected to send out many Christmas cards so I wanted to share a reflection on the Wonder of Christmas.  I truly pray we all receive the truth in the mystery of the virgin birth of our Savior.  I have heard a lot of controversy in regard to the virgin birth and I believe it is important that we understand why it is so imperative to our understanding of the gospel. There are many more mysteries involved in the birth of our Lord that I wish to understand.

I love to read the different accounts in the gospels of the Christmas story and reflect and meditate on them.  You see there is a miraculous presence that can envelope one as the story is told year after year. And now as the story is unveiling about our soon coming King, we can even see more that God has for us.  A lot of people believe in the babe of Bethlehem, but do they believe in the suffering Christ of the cross, the Christ of resurrection, and the Lion of Judah who is to return again?  You see, it's easy to believe in a babe in a manger with animals and shepherds all around as kind of a fascinating story but when we think of Him as the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world it is more difficult for some to receive. 

Christmas: They call it the advent, or the coming of deity to earth.  Truly it is a wonderful story of miraculous encounters with angels, visions, dreams, and the human factor of a virgin impregnated by the Word of God conceived of Holy Spirit,  a Jewish man willing to take her as a wife knowing the child was not his, priests, prophets, shepherds, wise men, the ungodly king Herod, and we could go on and on. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14.

As I was looking at the account in Luke of the story of the birth of Jesus, I stopped at the angel Gabriel's words to Mary after he announced the plan God had for her to be the mother of our Lord.  She was questioning how it was possible for  her to conceive without the help of a man.
  
And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 
Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” Luke 1:35-37

I have heard this verse quoted a lot in different sermons and often wondered about it "For with God nothing will be impossible".  A couple of things stood out to me this time when I read that passage.  One was the word 'with'.  Who is God with?  Are we with God?  The word 'with' is a preposition and one meaning is: two or more people or things are doing something together or involved in something.  In looking at that scripture I had always thought about God being the one doing the impossible and it didn't include others.  After all God can do anything, right?  Well not exactly.  He specifically says in the Word that He limits himself to do certain things.  For instance He will not go against human will.  He will not deviate from His Word. He will NOT break the covenant He has made with man. He chooses to work through man to accomplish His will.  It is a lot to chew on, so back to the word 'with'.  God needed a man and woman, in this case Zacharias and Elizabeth to cooperate with His plan to bring into the world John the Baptist, the precursor of Christ. Elizabeth was beyond childbearing years and so God performed the impossible by allowing Elizabeth to produce and egg and John to believe in what God was going to do and provide the seed to conceive a child.  Notice Zacharias was struck dumb until the child was born. I believe he possibly could have thwarted God's plan by speaking unbelief.  (Our words are powerful.) The angel Gabriel used this example to encourage Mary that "with God all things are possible".  It spurred her faith and she became a cooperative participant in the miraculous conception of Jesus the Messiah!   It was imperative that Jesus enter the world legally through a human being as God had chosen man to take dominion and subdue the earth. Genesis 1:26  Therefore God could not betray His Word and send Jesus down as the Deified Glorified Christ.  He came in the form of a babe in a manger born of woman.  "But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children." Galatians 4:4-5 NLT  Oh I am feeling the love right now!  Can you see what I see?

Speaking of Jesus: " Though he was God,  he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;  he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.    When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross." Philippians 2:5-8 New Living Translation

Now I want to once again point to the scripture " For with God nothing will be impossible".  We can see that God chooses to work with humans to accomplish His will.  That is the "with God' part.  I wish to bring another interpretation to the translation of that particular scripture.  Believe me I don't pretend to be a Bible scholar but I do know how to use helps that are incredible now to look at the Hebrew and Greek language the Bible was translated from and I have Holy Spirit to bring revelation to me.  I did some looking at the original Greek language and some commentaries that I have faith in to bring correct information. And.... another translation of "For with God nothing will be impossible" is  "For no Word of God shall be powerless"!  The word from God spoken to Mary, she received into her very being, allowing the Truth to manifest in her very body!  I believe they are both wonderful revelations to the scripture.  God requires us working with Him to receive, speak, and perform His Word in this earth.

Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. Luke 1:38

To sum things up, we have this incredible gift given to us by God that we can receive or reject.  It is the Living Word  in the form of a baby, the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world.  He was born of a virgin maiden who received the Truth in her very being.  He was surrounded by animals, lowly shepherds and angels singing. The light of a star stood overhead, wise men visited bringing their gifts, and a wicked King tried to destroy him. An earthly father looked over and protected Him. The Heavenly Father implemented His plan to bring man back to redemption.  He "watches over His Word to perform it".  Oh, such Great Love He shows us. But we have to receive that love with our own free will. 

We can receive the this Gift of God and become His child.  Jesus can be born in us. My father's favorite scripture:  "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  John 3:16

We can also begin to see miraculous things happen in our lives by receiving the Word of God.  We can cooperate with our Heavenly Father and see the miraculous power of the spoken Word begin to manifest the impossible in our lives and the lives of others.  

He's coming back for His bride, the church.  He will come this time as the Lion of Judah, the ruling King.


For no Word of God shall be powerless!

"Though he was God,  he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.   Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;  he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.  When he appeared in human form,  he humbled himself in obedience to God  and died a criminal’s death on a cross.   Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,  in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,  to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:6-11 


May the Joy of Christmas be yours this year and forever.
I pray you receive this Great and Blessed Hope that God's Love has provided.

Candy Kloxin









Friday, October 4, 2013

YOU




It's been a long time since I posted and I am trying to get back into the mode of journaling, writing, blogging.  I don't know what derailed me but busyness, distraction and other sundry interruptions. So here I am again.  I hope my posts bless and encourage. 

I often have difficulty sleeping for various reasons, so instead of counting sheep I have other things I do while I am lying there.  Sometimes I get up and pray, read, work on the computer or watch TV. Sometimes I find my mind going to things that I am trying to work out.  That is often a dead end or what I call circling around the mountain again and again.  So I have a few mental exercises I go through and I am going to share them with you.  These are to challenge my Bible knowledge.  I will take the alphabet and for each letter I will remember a scripture.  Now I can't always remember the reference but I will be able to quote the scriptures.  For instance;

A:  Arise shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
B: Be still and know that I am God
C: Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law..
D: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

I can usually get through all the letters except maybe Q, X, Z .  It really challenges me.  The other thing I do is take the alphabet and place the names of God.

A:  Alpha
B:  Bright and morning star
C: Counselor
D: Daystar

Once again I can do most letters. So my new challenge was names in the Bible.

A:  Abraham
B: Boaz
C: Cain
D: David

Well on this I could even do Q, X, Z,   Queen Ester, Xerxes, Zechariah and I was so excited but I couldn't find one for Y and finally it dawned on me after I looked in my concordance.  You!  You is in the Bible.  Did you know YOU are in the Bible?  Ha ha, well I got to thinking about that and meditating on it and it is really important that we put ourselves in the Bible otherwise it has no influence. Or should I say we should put the Bible in us.  Do you know how many times you is in the Bible? 2502. And ye which could mean you or a plural you is in there 3780 times.  This is in the King James version which uses ye a lot.  

We can be a Bible scholar and have a lot of knowledge in regard to the Bible but if it hasn't been revealed to us it does us no good.  You see, we must have impartation of revelation.  Only Holy Spirit can do that.  He is sent to reveal Jesus through the Word.  He breathed it into man who wrote it and now He has to breath it into us as we read it.  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. II Timothy 3:16,17.  Here's how I look at it.  I have heard this: the Old Testament is Jesus concealed. The New Testament is Jesus revealed. But...the purpose of the Old and New Testament is also to reveal US;  to reveal we cannot save ourselves, we have fallen, we have missed the mark and are doomed without a Savior. A lot of people don't like to read the Old Testament because of all the violence, acts of judgment and darkness that is there.  But in the midst of it are wonderful passages and  a merciful, loving God who reveals his incredible plan of covenant relationship with sinful man. All the redemptive names of God are there, and in Genesis He makes perfectly clear His desire for fellowship and relationship with us.  Wow! I can't think of that without tears in my eyes.  ALL of the judgmental acts in the Old Testament where He swallowed up people in the ground, sent fire down, etc. were done to preserve a people who would bring forth a Savior to redeem us from our own sinfulness.  My heart leaps at the thought of that! Such love!  

In the Old Testament as Moses set up the tabernacle in the wilderness,  the different articles of the tabernacle in the wilderness represented different things.  There was the altar of sacrifice where animals were slain as atonement for sin, then the bronze laver where the priests washed their hands before proceeding. These two places were brought to my attention and of course there is much more in the study of this tabernacle.  Of course the blood was shed at the altar of sacrifice then the priests cleansed their hands in the bronze laver. As they looked into the water they could see their reflection as well as the blood from their hands in the water.  Christ cleansed us as His church;   "that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish." Ephesians 5: 26, 27  His blood makes us pure and God sees us through His Son's blood.  Praise the Lord! Of course the sacrificial system was set up to point to the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus Christ.  The Word of God washes us and cleanses us as we read and receive knowledge of who we are in Christ.

So YOU are in the Bible, it was written to YOU and for YOU.  How wonderful that we have this inspired Book, the incomparable Word of the Living God.  I pray we will all hunger and thirst for it, take it to heart, obey it and learn who We are and most of all who He is.  

"For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim blurred reflection of reality as in a riddle or enigma, but then, when perfection comes, we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part, (imperfectly), but then I shall know and understand fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been fully and clearly known and understood by God".  I Corinthians 13:12 Amplified version.

"For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power (making it active, operative, energizing, and effective); it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and (the immortal) spirit, and of joints and marrow (of the deepest parts of our nature), exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart" Hebrews 4:12 Amplified version


Breathe on us Holy Spirit as we read the Word of God.  May we see Jesus and the truth about who we are and who He is.  Thank you for the Living Word and Holy Spirit. Increase our hunger for You O God.


In His Love,
Candy Kloxin









Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Breath of Life



This photo is not of anyone I know but it is a very familiar image to me, being a birth attender for so many years. I found myself meditating on creation and the awesomeness of God. Several things caught my attention in reading the account in Genesis of man's beginnings.

"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."Genesis 2:7

I was looking up the meanings of the words in Hebrew and found some interesting things. It literally says God formed man from the earth, then blew into his nostrils the breath of life and he became (the original Hebrew says) an alive, breathing creature. He created this world for us, a world where the atmosphere supports our life. Then gave us His life, His breath and we became breathing beings. We are made in His image: body, soul, spirit. The word for breath here is not the word for God's Spirit as I had thought but it is as it says "the breath, spirit, that makes us alive".

I was in a nursing career for 33 plus years. In that time I witnessed and attended many births and deaths. The first thing you want to hear when a baby is born is their cry, their breath, then immediately their color begins to change to pink. In the hospital we actually do what is called an Apgar score which is indicative of their response. Everyone is waiting in anticipation of that cry and there is an immediate tangible relief in the room as soon as it is heard. I realize there are more peaceful births where maybe the cry isn't quite as vigorous but there is always breath and change in color. What a wonderful experience to witness a new life coming into the world. Even when it is not the best circumstance it is always a miraculous event.

The end of our days of living can also be a struggling process. I have also been present for the transition of the departure of souls into the next dimension of eternity. God has placed in us a tremendous will to live. Even with those who are ready and want to pass on due to suffering or anguish will struggle against the throes of death. This is a subject of which we don't really want to face, that of death. The departure of a soul (living breathing person) comes with the cessation of breathing. That breath leaves the body in which the spirit and soul have wings. The heart often keeps beating for a while after the breath stops because it acts on its own accord to keep going until there is no oxygen left to support it. During my father's last days my brother and I were attending him. We had been with him for some days and I was needing to go home to my own bed for a night to get some much needed rest. We had a person watching him that night so my brother and I could rest, my brother being nearby as well as my mother. When we left the house it was snowing the most beautiful big flakes. I hesitated thinking the weather might hinder my return if something should happen but decided to leave with my husband. I did not want to miss my father's passing. We had no more arrived home when I received a call from my brother saying my father had passed. Feelings of disappointment washed over me for a second, then I began praising God and weeping. He was a wonderful servant of God meeting his Savior and going to his reward. We went immediately to my folks house. I knew Mom would be having a rough time and I wanted to be there. When we arrived the hospice nurse, my mom and brother were gathered around my father who lay on the hospital bed we had brought to the house. I leaned over his body to kiss his face and felt the breath leave him with a soft sigh. Even though his heart had stopped I felt he had waited for me to be there for his departure.

Now let's get on to the rejoicing part. When we leave this temporary tent or body that our spirit, soul (soul being our mind, will, emotion, personality) lives in we move into the MOST REAL part of eternity. If we have experienced the new birth by receiving Jesus as our supreme sacrifice for our sin, our spirit/soul goes to be with our Father God, Jesus and all believers who have passed on. If we have not received the new birth we go to eternal damnation and separation from God. We must get this message out.

As we see from the story of creation and fall of man, death came when Adam and Eve decided they didn't need God to rule their lives. Their bodies were still alive, their souls were still alive, they were living, breathing humans but....their spirit had died to the kingdom of God. This is a mystery that is difficult to understand. Jesus, talking to Nicodemus explained the new birth experience.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ John 3:5-7

Then comes the famous verse, my dad's favorite.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

We are born again by the Spirit of God. He draws us to the Savior, reveals who Jesus is to us and pricks our heart to receive. When we do, we are born into the kingdom of God, a new creation. We are a made over creation. Hallelujah! The word for Holy Spirit in the Hebrew is Ruach HaKodesh, or Holy breath, wind. In the Greek the word for spirit is pneuma or breath. So Holy Spirit conceives in us the new birth. He is the breath of God.

Let's look at what Jesus said after his resurrection to the disciples. Remember, they were not yet born again.

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said unto them, "Receive the Holy Spirit". John 20:22
The Greek word here (breathed) is employed nowhere else in the New Testament but is the very one used by the Septuagint translators of Gen. 2:7 " And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." There, man's original creation was completed by this act of God; who, then, can fail to see that here in John 20 on the day of the Savior's resurrection, the new creation had begun by the Head of the new creation, the last Adam acting as a 'quickening spirit'. (Blue letter Bible commentary)

And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. I Corinthians 15:45

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. II Corinthians 5:17

Have you received the new birth experience becoming a new creation in Christ? I pray this has blessed. I realize there are differing theological explanations about the new birth experience but wanted to share what the Holy Spirit has quickened to me: The miraculous transforming power of the breath of God in the new birth experience.










Wednesday, March 27, 2013

The Women at the Resurrection



In Bible times women were not well thought of.  The were often overlooked, mistreated and maligned.  They were not considered good witnesses to events and were not listened to.  Jesus, however, elevated and restored women to their valued place.  I can think of many women who were ministered to by Him.  The Samaritan woman at the well, the bent over woman at the synagogue, the woman with the issue of blood, the woman caught in adultery, the demon possessed Mary Magdalene, the woman that poured expensive perfume on Jesus,  are among many that Jesus healed, delivered and restored.  Women supported Jesus' ministry financially.  Luke 8:2 " And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza Herod's steward and Susanna and many others, which ministered to him out of their substance".  Jesus had quite a following of women.  They were at the cross, "And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him." Matt. 27:55. Verse 61: They were at the seplulchre watching what was being done with Jesus' body.  This was a devastating event for Jesus' followers, but the women were close, ready to serve and minister to Jesus' body.

Mark's chapter 16 account tells us who went to the tomb.  The first witnesses of the Resurrection were women. Not the disciples.

1Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. 
2Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 
3And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” 
4But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. 
5And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.
6But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. 
7But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.”
8So they went out  quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
9Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. 
10She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. 
11And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.


It is amazing, that women were the first to witness the most significant event that has ever happened!
The first to hear of the resurrection from angels were women.
The first to see the risen Lord was Mary Magdalene.
The first to believe the resurrected Christ were the women.

It was because of their service and faithfulness to Jesus.  They were far above grateful for what he had done for them.  They expressed it in so many ways.  The anointing at Bethany of the expensive perfume became a everlasting memorial and anointed him for his burial as Jesus said. Mark 14:3-9.  They came to the tomb to perform necessary burial duties.  Thus they were the ones who first witnessed the event.

The greatest liberator of women was Jesus.  He treasures us and wants us to thrive in our place.  I am so thankful for being a woman. I truly want to serve Him.  I know He loves me and treasures me as He does every person.

I remember as a child attending Easter sunrise services. Usually my dad and I attended and we would get up while it was still dark and make our way to the place where the services were held, usually on a hill or park somewhere.  Sometimes it was cold and misty, other times the skies were clear and the birds would be singing and as the sun started peaking over the horizon our small little group would sing.

Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior,
He tore the bars away Jesus my Lord.
Up from the grave He arose! With a mighty triumph or His foes
He arose a victor from the dark domain and He lives forever with his saints to reign,
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah, Christ arose!


May we rejoice during this Holy Season in our Resurrected Lord and King!  "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." John 11;25









Tuesday, March 5, 2013

A Holy Invitation


In Sunday's service I was so moved by the word a young man gave during worship.  He spoke of an invitation in a Jewish ceremony where the groom offered the bride a cup of wine...an invitation to partake of what he would offer to her.  I would submit this link that goes into detail about the ceremony and meaning.
http://messianicfellowship.50webs.com/wedding.html . The betrothal process and ceremony has so much to offer in the way our Father chose us for His son, we are immersed or baptized unto Him when we accept Him as our betrothed then partake of the covenant fruit of the vine and bread representing His blood and body.  Just a couple of points:  The father chooses the bride,(Ephesians 1:4) the grooms responsibility is to prepare a place for the bride to live. John 14:3 "I go to prepare a place for you".  The bride promises to pay her dowry, her financial status, that of her yielded life to keep herself for him.  "knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot "
 I Peter 1:18,19. Jesus paid our dowry. 
 "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish." Ephesians 5:25-27 

I so strongly feel our Lord offering himself in that Holy Invitation of Communion.  It is more real to me than I have ever known.  I see Him the night He was betrayed, so excited to reveal Himself to the disciples as the Passover Lamb. " With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer". Luke 22:15. Oh what love.  He knew what was ahead of Him as He offered to the disciples that they would be the first to partake of that love, His body, His blood.  What passion He revealed! The love for His brethren, that He would offer himself as the supreme sacrifice.  They did not understand what they were partaking of  and unfortunately we often do not ponder the depth of the love that was demonstrated through His sacrifice and what He is offering us.  

That night in the garden of Gethsemane, He asked that the cup would pass from Him, nevertheless, He yielded to God's will and took of the cup of suffering for our sin.  And now He offers us the cup of redemption, the cup of blessing, the cup of love for His bride.  He said "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, this do as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me." I Corinthians 11:25. And He also said "I will not take of the fruit of the vine until  the kingdom of God shall come." 

I encourage you to read the whole chapter of  I Corinthians 10.  Paul talks about the Israelites and how we should learn from their example. He is talking about idolatry and how it was the downfall of Israel.  Then in the Corinthian church idolatry was still a problem.  Webster defines idolatry as "worship of a physical object as a god".  What we give homage to or worship above the one true God is idolatry.  Paul says "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?"  Then later in the chapter he says "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons."  I submit to you that there is idolatry in our nation on a wide scale, and yes among believers.  Lord, I pray reveal to us our idols, that we may remove them.  

Oh folks, the Lord is calling us to repentance.  He wants purity in our relationships, especially our relationship to our God and to our betrothed Groom.  He is calling His bride to receive the cup of betrothal and not take of another.  

His love is everlasting, a covenant love that was sealed in His blood.  Is He not worthy of our wholehearted commitment?  If we know Him, one day we will partake of the Marriage supper of the Lamb.  

 "Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”  Revelation 19:9 

"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am you will be also" John 14:3

Saints, we are betrothed to Him. Let us not look at another. Let us receive the washing of the water of the Word.  He is the Word.  He purifies us, He cleanses us with His blood.  

Candy Kloxin





Thursday, February 7, 2013

The Burning Bush



And Moses came to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God and the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in the midst of a burning bush.  Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight why the bush does not burn."  When the Lord saw that Moses turned aside God called to him from the midst of the bush. 

Right now I am so ignited about prayer and the Lord led me to this scripture and image of the burning bush and the story of Moses.  Well , we talk a lot about the bush but their was an Angel in the midst of the bush, and God spoke to Moses from the bush.  Usually the phrase Angel of the Lord is referring to the pre-incarnate Christ or Jesus before he came to this earth.  Theologians debate about this, but I am convinced it is Jesus.  He said it was holy ground and had Moses take his shoes off.  Angels do not command worship. Only Jesus and God are worthy of worship. It is not my intention to debate this issue but to show something I have not seen before.  Moses was attending the sheep and going about his business when this appeared to him.  He decided to turn aside to see about it. It got his attention.  God saw that and called to Moses from that bush.  

I am seeing the burning bush right now.  It is calling me to prayer and I believe I am to ignite others to do the same.  I have already seen people lately who are feeling the "heat" of it.  Hallelujah! I am turning aside to see and hear from God.  I believe the body of Christ is to do that.  Jesus is our burning bush!  

In Isaiah 11 we have a picture of the anointing on Jesus Christ.  Holy Spirit anointing, Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear of the Lord. It is also referred to as the Seven Spirits or seven-fold spirit before the throne in Revelation 1:4.  It is about the work of the Holy Spirit in the church, in our lives.  The candlesticks are referred to in Revelation that are in the churches. He warns the candlesticks can be removed.  God wants them ignited with all functions of the Spirit of God burning with revelation!.  Jesus proclaimed himself with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Luke 4:18, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to: preach the gospel to the poor, heal the broken-hearted, preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set them at liberty that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. "  This is the function of the anointing of Holy Spirit that lives in us

Jesus is calling to his church from the midst of that bush.  Let us turn aside and receive our call to bring the truth to this world, to show the anointing that lives in us.  Pray church, Pray!.  Turn aside to hear the call. We are close to a mighty move of God.  I believe it.  

The bush is the candlestick!  Holy Spirit will ignite us and the oil is an everlasting supply.  Can you see it?  Can you hear the call from the midst of it?  


Lord, I pray ignite us with your Holy Spirit fire!  May we turn aside to see you in the midst of the fire.  May we hear Your voice speaking from it. May we be aware of the anointing on us and the endless supply of oil available to us. 

 In Jesus' name,
Amen

Candy Kloxin

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

The Move of God Among Us



We have been praying for a manifestation of God's presence in our gatherings at New Covenant Fellowship. Prayer momentum is gaining and the Lord is working on our hearts. I pray desperation for Him is growing.  

I am getting close to 70 years of age, and have been a believer for 60 plus years now. Being raised in a denominational church I have vivid memories of my salvation experience, baptism and many wonderful altar experiences.  Church was at the center of our social activities.  Salvation was the main message taught and we knew it well.  I was brought up in a wonderful church family that was there supporting my life through the learning years of childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood.  We were a faithful church going family.  I had a good foundation under me with praying parents and grandparents.  I am so very thankful for that.  My how things have evolved through the years.  I have always been a seeker of God.  I want to know more about Him.  Oh yes, I have had my ups and downs and have missed the mark many times.  The wonderful thing is, He has been faithful to me.  I remember what we called revival services that would go on 2 weeks or longer.  An evangelist would be brought in and often a new music leader and we would have early morning prayer, services at noon and evening every day for 2 weeks.  Many of the church members made it a priority to attend.  Yes, it would bring a new opportunity for the Lord to work on us.  We would try to invite those who didn't know Jesus to come and there were many salvations at some of these meetings.  Things weren't as busy then and people made time for the meetings.  I have come to know when the people of God pray and come together, God is there.  We may not see a lot of change or feel the goose bumps we want to feel but the Word says "where two or three are gathered in my name, there I AM in their midst".  

Of all the years of my church experiences I have seen Holy Spirit move in varying degrees but I have never really seen powerful repentance and conviction come on the service.  We have had a few drops, but for the showers we plead!  My heart desire is to see that powerful move where people are on their faces repenting of sin, desperate for God to change their hearts. (Me included).  This is something that cannot be worked up in the flesh, but must be the work of Holy Spirit. Prayer has always been a precursor to revival.  

The work of the Holy Spirit in the world:  "He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you will see me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." John 16:8-11. Words of Jesus.

The work of Holy Spirit among  his disciples:  "When He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever he hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, (Jesus) for He will take of what is mine and will declare it to you." John 16:12-15.

Men cannot come to an understanding of sin, righteousness and judgment apart from the Holy Spirit.  We need to pray for that convicting power of Holy Spirit to come to those in the world.  But.....I am telling you the church needs to judge itself first.  Where are we?  What are we allowing in our lives that shows we are no different from the world?  Our families are in shambles, our lives are focused on work, entertainment and recreation.  There is little commitment to the things of God.  We cry out to Him when things are in crisis, but not willing to follow Him in a daily walk.  

I sincerely believe we need to allow people to feel their despair and let Holy Spirit do a work in their lives.  Pray, yes but pray they will see their need for God. I believe we are going to see more and more people needing ministry because the world has no answers.  Point them to God.  Don't let them depend on you to pray them out of the situations they are in and then see them go back to their same lifestyle. I feel this so strongly, that we often smother people with our compassion and begin to minister to them out of our soul when we need to let them become desperate for God.  We need to let Holy Spirit move on their hearts, let them be ripe with that sin so they want out of that life of death.  Then when they come to God, He does the work and we can stand by and help if needed and then disciple them.  

What is the real move of God going to look like?  First the church will be a praying, seeking, church, crying out for change in our own hearts.  Then people are going to come when they see Jesus lifted up in our lives and when they see us loving one another. I believe this move of God will be a "hands off" move and we will know therefore it is God.  What I mean by that is we will not have to do coaxing, pleading, laying hands on, and all the things of the flesh to try to get people to get where they should be.  It will be a true work of Holy Spirit for it to happen.  Without His leadership it will be a work of the flesh.  I've seen enough of that. I want to see the real deal.  I am believing for it.  Join with me.  Have any questions about what I am saying, visit with me.  

I pray this is received with open hearts.  

Father God, thank you for your faithfulness.  Thank you for Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. Guide us to truth. Deal with our hearts, search us O God.  Prepare us for sustained revival.  Holy Spirit come, bring conviction,   grant repentance, mold us into what we should be. Pour out the Spirit of prayer and supplication on us. 

In Jesus Name. 
Amen

Love and Blessings,
Candy


Friday, January 18, 2013

I Got Your Back

 

If you think we are not in a battle as Christ followers then you are either asleep or misled. The letter of Ephesians is written to the church of Jesus Christ and is a wonderful revelatory explanation of our position as believers and how we are to win in this life.  Jesus has conquered the enemy for us and will one day bring His kingdom to earth, but until then there is a continual clash of the kingdom of light and kingdom of darkness.  He has destined us to win!  Every born again believer needs to understand their position in Christ.  Please read the book of Ephesians.  It is truly meat for our spiritual lives.  The Lord rescued us from sin, translated us out of darkness into His glorious light, and seated us in heavenly places with Him.  We have been given access to every spiritual blessing.  When we pray, when we war, we need to know where we are seated in the heavenlies with Christ, far above all principalities and powers. It is imperative that we understand our position in Christ Jesus. The day we are in now there is so much deception, so much to distract us from our hope and calling.  The battle must be won first of all in our minds.  I Corinthians 10:3-5 tells us we do not war after the flesh and our weapons are not of the flesh but the Spirit.  We must cast down every vain imagination that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.  Oh Hallelujah!  He has equipped  us, but we must take up our armor and weapon of the sword of the Spirit.  When we do, we are putting on Christ: His Helmet, His truth, His righteousness, His footwear, His shield and speaking His Word!  To add to this, we often overlook the following verse that says "praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints".  This is our 'back'.  We are to pray for one another because sometimes the enemy can bring a sneak attack or can come when we are vulnerable.  I often have what I call prayer triggers.  Someone will come to mind out of the blue and a lot of times it is for me to lift them up in prayer.  It may be just a short prayer or a long travailing one.  That is availing ourselves to Holy Spirit to use us to cover the saints.  I am so thankful for the times I could literally feel someone praying for me.  Those times brought me through difficult situations or helped me receive a wonderful blessing.  

To add to this idea of warfare I wanted to relate some experiences.  I have taught children at least three times about the weapons of our warfare.  The first time I taught on the three main weapons God gives us...The Name of Jesus, The Blood of Jesus, and the Word of God.  We launch those weapons through Proclaiming, Praising, and Speaking.  After the teaching we would put to practice what we had learned by praising, speaking and proclaiming.  EVERY time I taught this there was a move of God among the children. One time the Lord provided some special effects with my teaching. There was a thunderstorm going on and each time I would say weapons the lightning would strike and thunder would follow! Needless to say I had the children's attention.  At the end of the teaching, we had children laid out, praying in tongues, prophesying and praying for one another.  It was incredible.  Folks, we need to use the weapons  and armor God has provided for us.  They are to advance the Kingdom of Light and defeat the kingdom of darkness.  Souls hang in the balance.

"And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force" Matthew 11:12

Candy Kloxin

Thursday, January 3, 2013

What's Ahead?

     It's been a while since I posted.  I've had an interesting last couple of months.  Twenty days before Christmas I was instructed by Holy Spirit to do a fast.  I was thinking it would be near impossible to keep at this time of year with all the parties, social events surrounding the holidays.  But I received prayer one Sunday morning and purposed to do a Daniel type fast for the 20 days.  I can't say I strictly observed it but really did pretty well.  I felt better physically and received some inspiration and revelation.  It's truly God's unfolding majesty to seek Him on a daily basis.  I want to say, I don't consider myself a prophet or some super spiritual person at all.  But I am coming to know my God better every day. I rely on His grace over my life.  I have many flaws and shortcomings that He is working on but He still speaks to me.

     I always ask the Lord about the coming year.  This year things were different.  I have come to realize our calendar is not God's calendar.  If you do some investigating our calendar is pagan even though it is based on Christian years..AC, BC.  I truly believe the Jewish calendar is God's timetable.  He lined the seasons up with the sun and moon and changing of heavenly bodies. Genesis 1:14.  Do some looking into that.  I am going to do more.  At any rate, I believe He will reveal himself with the seasons and times and feasts recorded in the Jewish calendar.  That doesn't mean we have to observe all the feasts but to being aware of them and understanding the fulfillments they represent will greatly help us in our knowledge of things to come. So I am saying that this year, 2013 did not seem as important to me because I am looking at God's timetable.  I am certainly not an expert on this, just in the learning process but this last year it became almost imperative that I look at the fulfillments of the feasts as related to Jesus coming and second coming.  It was eye opening to me.

 This is the moon at Passover 2012  New York skyline.

     Recently John Hagee preached on the 4 Blood Moons.  Blood moons are phenomena that occur during the year according to NASA, but not very often are there 4 in a year. The Bible gives mention to them occurring in the last days. (Acts 2:20)   He researched the times they have occured in one year and came up with each time correlating with Israel and the Jewish people.  The next time they occur according to NASA, will be the year 2014 to 2015 our calendar.   I think you can watch the episodes online and purchase the messages. Very interesting.
 
     Now, I did seek the Lord for the coming season.  So here is what I am sensing, feeling and moving towards:

    1. Once again (because I have committed to this before)  Each day I am asking for "daily bread" from the Father.  With everything that is happening, we need to hear clearly for each day the Word that proceeds from the Father.  With that, committing to the reading, studying of the Word.
    2.  With all my heart I believe we need to "dwell in the secret place of the Most High"  Psalms 91.  Recently, I was encouraged to do this, memorize the Psalm and speak it over myself and family.  We are living in perilous times.  The protection of our Heavenly Father is available.
    3.   Submit to God, resist the devil, in that order, according to James 4:7-19. Humbling ourselves, seeking Him first, praying in the Spirit, learning to walk in the Spirit, learning to operate in the authority He has given.
    4.   Being proactive in my prayer life.  In other words as we seek Him and pray daily we will have to do less "damage control" in our prayers.
     5.  Expecting to receive what God has provided for us.  Faith is a magnet to receive.  We see so much of that in the Bible.  Faith comes by hearing and I pray my ears be open to hear the truth.

     I think there are greater challenges ahead of us but also greater manifestations of God's presence, healing, deliverance and salvation.  The anointing will INCREASE.  I am expecting great things.  I also am looking for more manifestation of the spiritual gifts operating in the believer.  I am praying and expecting greater unity and harmony in the body of Christ thus greater team ministry.

     Grace and Peace be multiplied to YOU this coming year.
     
      Candy Kloxin