Tag: SUPPORT

Articles, Jeanette Porter

NEITHER FEARFUL NOR SELF-SUFFICIENT PART I

| Jeanette

I JOHN 4:18 – THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE; BUT PERFECT LOVE CASTETH OUT FEAR: BECAUSE FEAR HATH TORMENT. HE THAT FEARETH IS NOT PERFECT IN LOVE.

FEAR MEANS DREAD, AND TORMENT MEANS TO SUFFER UNBAREABLE PAIN OR PUNISHMENT.

FEAR IS A TORMENT OF THE MIND. GOD REVEALED TO ME THAT FEAR AND WORRY ARE THE WORST THINGS WITH WHICH HIS MINISTERS HAVE TO DEAL. IT CAN PARALIZE. THIS COULD BE EMOTIONALLY OR PHYSICALLY. BOTH CAN BRING ON MANY DISEASES.

THE RELATIONSHIP OF FEAR AND DISEASE ARE PHENOMINAL.

WHAT WE CALL STAGE FRIEGHT, IS JUST AS REVELANT IN MINISTERS AS IT HAS EVER BEEN IN ANY PUBLIC SPEAKER.

ONE OF THE GREATEST RADIO VOICES OF THE PAST, C.M. WARD, WAS ASKED ABOUT THIS.  HE SAID, MANY TIMES BRFORE HE WAS TO SPEAK, HE WOULD SIT IN THE WAITING AREA, AND ASK GOD TO RAPTURE OUT THE CHURCH RIGHT THEN, SO HE WOULDN’T HAVE TO SPEAK.

THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST COMMON OF ALL THE FRIGHTS  IN THE LIFE OF A MINISTER; AND EVEN IN BUSINESS PEOPLE WHO ARE SCHEDULED TO MAKE A PRESENTATION.

BUT I FEEL THE MOST DAMAGING KIND OF FEAR IS THE FEAR OF FAILURE. TO FAIL, MEANS TO BE WANTING. THOSE WITH ANY KIND OF RESPONSIBILITY, GET INTO FEAR.    MOSTLY, BECAUSE THEY GET THEIR MINDS OFF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS; AND ON THEIR WEAKNESS.

PSALM 89:33,34 – NEVERTHELESS MY LOVINGKINDNESS WILL I NOT UTTERLY TAKE FROM HIM, NOR SUFFER MY FAITHFULNESS TO FAIL.

      MY COVENANT WILL I NOT BREAK, NOR ALTER THE THING THAT IS GONE OUT OF MY LIPS.

WHOM GOD CALLS, HE EQUIPS!! HE GIVES US ALL THE TOOLS WE NEEP TO PERFORM IN OUR CALLING.

IF WE COULD ONLY UNDERSTAND —NO!, WE CAN’T DO IT,  BUT GOD THROUGH US CAN!

I USED TO SPEAK AT OTHER CHURCHES ON OCCASIONS. BUT LATER ON, I BEGAN TO FEEL THE STRESS OF MINISTRY, AND SAID TO MYSELF, “I’LL JUST SUPPORT MY HUSBAND IN HIS CALLING, AND LET HIM DO THE PREACHING.” I STILL MINISTERED TO PEOPLE AND TAUGHT CLASSES AND BIBLE STUDY, BUT WHEN IT CAME TO WHAT I CALLED ‘MINISTERING OUT, I WOULD NOT ACCEPT IT, AND LEFT IT TO MY HUSBAND.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED? ALL THE DOORS CLOSED FOR ME.

I WAS WAS LOOKING AT MY ABILITY, NOT WHAT GOD COULD DO THROUGH ME. FEAR OF FAILURE HAD SET-IN. I WOULD BE ANOINTED AT ONE SERVICE, AND WOULD BE WORRIED THAT THE NEXT TIME I WOULDN’T BE, ESPECIALLY WHEN BEING TAKEN OUT OF MY “COMFORT-ZONE”. I WAS STILL DEPENDING ON MYSELF AND SOMEHOW I GOT MY EYES OFF THE COVENANT I  HAD WITH GOD.

DEUTERONOMY 31:6 – BE STRONG AND OF GOOD COURAGE, FEAR NOT, NOR BE AFRAID OF THEM: FOR THE LORD THY GOD, HE IT IS THAT DOETH GOOD WITH THEE; HE WILL NOT FAIL THEE, NOR FORSAKE THEE.

LUKE 22:32 – I HAVE PRAYED FOR THEE, THAT THY FAITH FAIL NOT…

FEAR AND FAITH ARE OPPOSITE. I DIDN’T REALLY SEE ANYTHING WRONG WITH WHAT I WAS DOING. I WAS STILL AS BUSY AS EVER.

I BEGAN SOME YEARS AGO TO JOURNAL. I WOULD WRITE DOWN MY PRAYERSTO GOD, AND HE BAGAN TO SPEAK TO ME. HE WOULD TELL ME HE WANTED TO TAKE ME TO A NEW LEVEL WITH HIM. I WAS TO DEPEND ON HIM. I REALIZED I HAD LET FEAR AND WORRY, AND MY DELIVERY, KEEP ME FORM DOING WHAT HE WANTED OF ME. I WAS SO ASHAMED AND REPENTANT.

HE STARTED WITH A RADIO PROGRAM, “WOMAN OF GOD,” THEN, WRITING AND PUBLISHING THE SCHOOL OF THE BIBLE, AND MINISTERING OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE IN CHURCHES AND PRISONS.

I FOUND OUT, ALL I NEED TO DO IS PREPARE, AND TRUST HIM TO OPEN DOORS. HE GIVES ME THE MESSAGES. ALL I HAVE TO DO IS SPEAK WHAT HE GIVES ME, AND MOVE WHEN HE MOVES. HIS MESSAGE FOR THE HOUR IS ALL HE REQUIRES ME TO SPEAK.

I PRAY, SEEK HIM, AND SOMETIMES FAST, AND HE SHOWS UP, AND THERE IS A DEMONSTRATION OF HIS POWER: FOR HE KNOWS THOSE WHO WILL HEAR, AND HE KNOWS HOW TO REACH EACH PERSON.

THERE IS ALSO A WARNING THAT COMES WITH THE MINISTRY THAT SHOULD BE COVERED, AND THAT IS SELF-SIFFICIENTCY. WHICH WE WILL DISCUSS IN PART II.

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Articles, Jeanette Porter

AT THE APPOINTED TIME

| Jeanette

MANY PEOPLE STRUGGLE FROM HEARING FROM GOD, AND TODAY I BELIEVE YOU WILL BE ENLIGHTENED ON THIS SUBJECT.

GENESIS 8:14 – IS ANYTHING TO HARD FOR THE LORD? AT THE TIME APPOINTED I WILL RETURN UNTO THEE, ACCORDING TO THE TIME OF LIFE, AND SARAH WILL HAVE A SON.                            GENESIS 21:1,2 – AND THE LORD VISITED SARAH AS HE SAID, AND THE LORD DID UNTO SARAH AS HE HAD SPOKEN. FOR SARAH HAD CONCEIVED AND BARE ABRAHAM A SON IN HIS OLD AGE, AT THE SET TIME OF WHICH GOD HAD SPOKEN TO HIM.

THE DEFINITION OF THE WORD “APPOINTED” IS, ASSIGNED OR ARRANGED.

HOW MANY OF US HAVE HEARD FROM THE LORD, AND BECAUSE IT DIDN’T HAPPEN WHEN WE THOUGHT IT SHOULD, WE SAID,”MAYBE THIS WAS IN MY MIND; MAYBE I DIDN’T REALLY HEAR FROM GOD.”

THIS IS WHEN DOUBT COMES IN AND FAITH GOES OUT.

II SAMUEL 17:14 —-HERE WE FIND ABSALOM, TRYING TO TAKE OVER DAVID’S KINGDOM; BUT DAVID WAS CHOSEN BY GOD AS KING. AND EVEN THOUGH DAVID IS RUNNING IN THE NATURAL, HE KNOWS HIS APPOINTMENT—-FOR THE LORD HAD APPOINTED TO DEFEAT THE GOOD COUNSEL OF AHITHOPHEL, TO THE INTENT THAT THE LORD MIGHT BRING EVIL UPON ABSALOM. 

     15:31 – AND ONE TOLD DAVID, SAYING, AHITHOPHEL IS AMONG THE CONSPIRATORS WITH ABSALOM. AND DAVID SAID, O LORD, I PRAY THEE, TURN THE COUNSEL OF AHITHOPHEL INTO FOOLISHNESS.

DAVID HAD A REBEL SON, ABSALOM, WHOSE PLAN WAS TO TAKE OVER THE KINGDOM GIVEN TO HIM BY GOD. FOR THE PROMISED SEED TO COME : JESUS, WAS TO COME FROM THE LOINS OF DAVID.

ABSALOM TOOK COUNSEL FROM TWO MEN, BUT HE ACCEPTED THE COUNSEL OF AHITHOPHEL, ONE OF DAVID’S COUNSELORS WHO JOINED IN THE CONSPIRACY WITH ABSALOM AGAINST DAVID, THE KING.

WHEN SOMEONE TOLD DAVID THAT AHITHOPHEL, HIS OWN ADVISOR, WAS BACKING ABSALOM, DAVID PRAYED, “O LORD, PLEASE MAKE AHITHOPHEL GIVE ABSALOM FOOLISH ADVICE.” 

AS SOON AS HE HAD FINISHED PRAYING, AND HAD REACHED THE TOP OF THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, WHERE PEOPLE WORSHIPPED GOD, DAVID FOUND HUSHAI THE ARCHITE WAITING FOR HIM. BUT DAVID TOLD HIM, “IF YOU GO WITH ME, YOU WILL ONLY BE A BURDEN. RETURN TO JERUSALEM AND TELL ABSALOM, I WILL COUNSEL YOU AS I DID YOUR FATHER. THEN YOU CAN FRUSTRATE AND COUNTER AHITHOPHEL’S ADVICE. SEND WORD BACK TO ME WHAT IS GOING ON.”

SO WHEN DAVID’S FRIEND, HUSHAI, ARRIVED, HE WENT IMMEDIATELY TO SEE ABSALON.

ABSALOM ASKED HIM, “WHY AREN’T YOU WITH DAVID?” AND HE ANSWERED, “BECAUSE I WORK FOR THE MAN WHO IS CHOSEN BY THE LORD AND BY ISRAEL, AND ANY WAY, WHY SHOULDN’T I? I HELPED YOUR FATHER AND NOW I WILL HELP YOU!”

THEN ABSALOM TURNED TO AHITHOPHEL AND ASKED HIM, “WHAT SHALL I DO NEXT?” AHITHOPHEL TOLD HIM, “. GO SLEEP WITH YOUR FATHER’S WIVES, FOR HE HAS LEFT THEM HERE TO KEEP THE HOUSE. THEN ALL ISRAEL  WILL KNOW THAT YOU HAVE INSULTED HIM  BEYOND RECONCILATION, AND THEY WILL SUPPORT YOU.”

SO ABSALOM DID EVERYTHING AHITHOPHEL TOLD HIM, UNTIL ONE DAY AHITHOPHEL ASKED FOR TWELVE THOUSAND MEN TO GO AFTER DAVID AND KILL HIM WHILE HE WAS DISCOURAGED.”HE AND HIS TROOPS WILL BE THROWN INTO A PANIC AND EVERYONE WILL RUN AWAY,” HE SAID. BUT ABASOLOM ASKED HUSHAI HIS OPINION.

“WELL,” HUSHAI REPLIED, “THIS TIME I THINK AHITHOPHEL IS MISTAKEN. YOU KNOW YOUR FATHER AND HIS MEN; THEY ARE MIGHTY WARRIORS AND ARE PROBABLY AS UPSET AS A MOTHER BEAR WHO HAS BEEN ROBBED OF HER CUBS.

YOUR FATHER IS AN OLD SOLDIER AND ISN’T GOING TO SPEND THE NIGHT AMONG THE TROOPS. HE HAS PROBABLY ALREADY HIDDEN IN SOME PIT OR CAVE. WHEN HE COMES OUT AND ATTACKS AND SOME OF YOUR MEN FALL, THERE WILL BE PANIC AMONG YOUR TROOPS AND EVERYONE WILL START SHOUTING THAT YOUR MEN ARE BEING SLAUGHTERED. THEN, EVEN THE BRAVEST OF THEM WILL BE PARALIZED WITH FEAR, BECAUSE ALL ISRAEL KNOWS WHAT A MIGHTY MAN YOUR FATHER IS AND HOW COURAGOUS HIS SOLDIERS ARE.’

“I SUGGEST YOU MOBILIZE THE ENTIRE ARMY OF ISRAEL. AND I THINK YOU SHOULD PERSONALLY LEAD THE TROOPS. THEN, WHEN WE FIND HIM, WE CAN DESTROY HIS ENTIRE ARMY, SO THAT NO ONE IS LEFT ALIVE.”

THEN ABSALOM AND ALL THE MEN OF ISRAEL SAID, HUSHAI’S IS BETTER THAN AHITHOPHEL’S.” FOR THE  LORD HAD APPOINTED TO DEFEAT THE COUNSEL OF AHITHOPHEL, WHICH REALLY WAS  THE BETTER PLAN; SO HE COUD BRING DISASTER UPON ABSALOM. —-AND HE DID.

WHEN GOD GIVES US A WORD, THAT HE IS GOING TO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE, IT IS BEST FOR US TO KEEP OUR MOUTHS SHUT UNTIL THE APPOINTED TIME, AS WAS IN THE LIFE OF ZACHARIAS AND ELIZABETH (LUKE 1). THE ANGEL TOLD HIM WHILE HE WAS DOING HIS SERVICE TO GOD IN THE TEMPLE, THAT HIS WIFE, ELIZABETH, WOULD HAVE A SON NAMED JOHN. BECAUSE OF ZACHARIAS’ UNBELIEF THE ANGEL STRUCK HIM DUMB UNTIL THE APPOINTED TIME.

WHEN GOD DECIDES TO DO SOMETHING, HE HAS A PURPOSE AND A PLAN HOW HE WANTS IT CARRIED-OUT.

THE BEST  THING WE CAN DO, IS WAIT IT OUT UNTIL IT COMES TO PASS. IT IS VERY EASY FOR US TO GET INTO UNBELIEF. WHEN WE GET TIRED OF WAITING, WE CAN BRING AN ISHMAEL INTO OUR LIVES, AS DID ABRAHAM AND SARAH. THEN WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH THESE ACTIONS THE REST OF OUR LIVES.

WHEN THE PROMISE DOES COME, WE FIND WE CAN ENJOY IT LIKE GOD PLANNED IN THE BEGINNING, BECAUSE WE HAVE NO ISHMAELS TO DEAL WITH.

WHEN WE BEGIN TO QUESTION GOD—-WE SHOULD BE SAYING, “GOD, I TRUST YOU WITH JUST THE RIGHT TIMING, AND I TRUST YOU WITH WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND ME.”

IN THE BOOK OF ESTHER, ESTHER’S UNCLE, MORDECAI HAD TOLD HER. “NOW IS THE TIME FOR YOU TO ACT. NOW IS THE TIME FOR YOU TO REVEAL YOURSELF.”

ESTHER 4:14 – FOR IF THOU ALTOGETHER HOLDEST THY PEACE AT THIS TIME, THEN SHALL THEIR ENLARGEMENT (OR HELP) AND DELIVERANCE COME FROM ANOTHER PLACE; BUT THOU AND THY FATHER’S HOUSE SHALL BE DESTROYED: AND WHO KNOWETH WHETHER THOU ART COME TO THE KINGDOM FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS?

BY MAKING HER MOVE AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME, SHE DESTROYED ALL THE ENEMIES PLANS.  

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